


Without the Mask (Sequel to Cat's New Toy)

by Beneath_the_Trees



Series: The Cat and His Wolf [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien and Jasper are very subtle in their affections, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Illustrated, Luka appears chapter 27 and on, M/M, Mr.Agreste will become a good father if I have anything to say about it, Multi, Slow Burn, Takes place almost a year later, okay they aren't that subtle when alone, season 2 will help out occasionally, secrets will slowly be unfolded, sequel to Cat's New Toy, tags will be added as I go, this villain is not messing around, until they're Chat Noir and Wolven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 63,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9607274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beneath_the_Trees/pseuds/Beneath_the_Trees
Summary: Between school, babysitting, patrol, and going on simple inconspicuous dates with Adrien, Jasper's life has not gotten any simpler since helping defeat Hawkmoth as the superhero Wolven.Something dangerous was lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and when it attacked, no one would be prepared for the secrets that come to light.





	1. Our Simple Life Is Over

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to find a different song to become the namesake of each chapter, but that plan failed the moment I started writing and found no song (out of what I currently listen to/remember) for this chapter, and probably the next few. I apologize right now if Adrien and Jasper don't act "couple-y" enough for you. Their relationship was never all that publicly shown or obvious in my mind— like, you wouldn't look at them and go "oh, those two are together", so that's how I'm going to write it. You know what, I'm gonna explain how they tend to act around each other in a sort of love square fashion:
> 
> Adrien/Jasper: quiet, cuddly, small touches and brief kisses, private  
> Adrien/Wolven: private, talk much more, cuddly, more kisses and touches, more playful  
> Chat Noir/Jasper: pretty similar to Adrien/Jasper, tiny bit more flirting  
> Chat Noir/Wolven: public, very flirty, talkative, small touches and brief kisses (they are focused on their job, after all), they show "grand" gestures of love for each other (basically, all of Paris can see how much they love each other based off of their actions when they aren't doing something important and are also complete and utter dorks who like to make each other laugh)
> 
> Bits and pieces of that may change, but that is essentially how their relationship looks like. There will be plenty of hopefully tooth-rotting fluff, though.

"Jasper, Jasper! Come help MiMi and I!" Evangelique shouted from the kitchen, my mom's laughter following a moment later. Neeks laughed quietly beside me and shook his head goodnaturedly, before hiding himself in my jacket once again.

I walked into the kitchen, giving them a questioning look, and Evangelique ran over, hugging my waist. "Help MiMi and I make brownies, please?" She asked, staring up at me with puppy dog eyes. I looked from her to my mom, who shrugged, already dressed in an apron and her long hair pulled back into a thick ponytail.

"She wanted brownies." She said with a small laugh, getting out a mix bowl and some of the more fragile ingredients, like eggs. "I wasn't painting anything, so I thought we could bake together. Eva wanted you to join the moment she heard you come in."

I looked back down at Evangelique, who was now whimpering along with the puppy dog eyes. Neeks snickered from his hiding place, making me tense for a moment, but when neither girl made a comment about it, figured I was okay. Finally, I gave in to her puppy dog eyes, rolling my eyes and kneeling so I could take her hair tie and pull her now shoulder-length blonde hair back into a ponytail. The six-year old girl cheered, turning around so I could tie her hair back with ease. When I was done, we set about making the brownies, Evangelique being in charge of adding the ingredients while I mixed and Mom measured.

It's been 8 months since the defeat of Hawkmoth, and still no sign of the strange lady who swore she'd kill us. In that time, Paris had been shocked to find out Chat Noir was dating Wolven instead of Ladybug, Mom's relationship with Noel and Astrid had gotten even stronger, Evangelique turned six, and I became a freshman in high school with the others. It was strange not having so many classes with Adrien, but we had a few of them together so it was fine.

Speaking of Adrien, our relationship was still going on strong, and I was shocked at how much more easy-going his father had become after the Hawkmoth incident. He was actually spending time with Adrien again, and he let Adrien hang out with either me or his friends whenever Adrien's schedule was free. Our relationship was still secret from his father, though, per Adrien's request. After four years of having a stone cold father, he was scared to tell him that he was dating one of his best friends, and I was okay with waiting as long as needed to tell Mr. Agreste.

Neeks had calmed down considerably, along with a majority of Paris, and I think most of them thought the lady appearing was just a dream. Adrien and I knew better, though, as well as our friends. We knew she was bound to come back at some point, but when that was, we had no idea. So Adrien, Ladybug and I went on patrol as often as we could, looking out for any of the monsters she could create.

I jumped when my phone chimed loudly in my back pocket, and I excused myself from the kitchen, giving Angel the dough covered spoon for her to lick while I went into another room to check my text messages. I smiled when I saw it was Adrien, and Neeks peeked out from his hiding place, reading the text.

 _Hey, Jaspie, are you free?_  
                  **In a way.  
**                  I'm baking brownies with Mom and Evangelique  
                 Want to come over?  
Does your mom mind?  
                  **You and I both know she doesn't mind  
**                   Maybe you can spend the night?  
I'll ask my father.  
                  **I'll let my mom know you're coming over**

Neeks gave me a knowing look, and I smiled, petting him, before heading back over to the kitchen. Mom was sharing some of the remains of the brownie batter with Evangelique, who was sitting on the counter and licking batter from her fingers happily.

"Who was it, Jasper?" Mom asked, offering me the bowl.

I shook my head at the offer for the bowl and flipped to one of the colored pages in the front of my notebook, pointing to the sentence, "It was Adrien."

Mom let out a small excited squeal as she set the bowl and whisk in the sink, turning to face me and putting her hands up in front of her mouth, although her grin was still visible. "Oh, is he coming here?" I nodded, and she giggled. "Is he spending the night?"

I flipped to a clean page and wrote, "Hopefully."

Mom's grin grew even bigger, if possible, and she giggled again. "Oh, great! It's been a few weeks since it's been just you two, right? Tell you what, if he spends the night, I'll get out of your hair, and you two can have the house all to yourself!" She said eagerly, a teasing lit to her voice. Almost immediately Evangelique began to sing,

"Adrien and Jasper, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

I hid my face in my hands as mom joined in about halfway through, making a strangled sounding noise of embarrassment. Evangelique burst into a fit of giggles, reaching over to lightly tug at my hair.

"It's okay, Jasper! You and Adrien are like Daddy and Mommy and MiMi!" She said cheerfully, and Mom giggled again as she set about cleaning the dishes as the brownies baked. I could see her own blush dusting her cheeks, and I smirked slightly, making Evangelique giggle.

I reached up and gently pulled the hair tie from her hair, before picking her up and setting her on the ground before grabbing my notebook again, starting to write. "Evangelique, can my mom stay with you, Noel, and maybe even Astrid tonight?" I wrote, showing it to her a minute later. She read it, before grinning and nodding.

"I'll ask Daddy, but MiMi should be able to come!" She gasped, looking to Mom, "Can it be a sleepover?!" She asked excitedly, jumping up and down and clasping her hands together. Mom laughed, pausing in her work to lean down to meet Evangelique's eyes.

"Only if Daddy says I can come over. Now go on, go get the phone and call him." She said, ushering the six-year old out of the kitchen and towards the living room, where her cellphone rested on the coffee table. My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I set my notebook down and pulled it out, seeing that Adrien responded.

 _He said I can stay the night_  
                     **Yay!  
**                     Mom is giving us the house to ourselves  
Really?  
That's great!  
                    **What time are you coming over?**  
I have a photoshoot and then a Chinese lesson, so around 6  
                  **Okay! We'll have dinner here. Mom and Angel made brownies**  
Ooo, what kind?  
                    **Chocolate with chocolate chips  
**                    I think Angel wants to add frosting, too  
.....  
Can I come over now?

I snickered faintly, smiling and shaking my head even though he wasn't there to see. Adrien must really want something sweet or something like that. Mom glanced at me from her spot at the sink, and I showed her the messages. Mom laughed softly, rolling her eyes. "That boy certainly loves sweets." She commented, looking at me as I started to respond to his text.

                  __**Go work, you dork**  
:'(  
                  **There will be plenty of brownies left for you  
**                   Promise  <3  
:D yay!

I bit my lip, holding back a giggle, and was about to respond when Angel came running into the room, waving mom's phone around in her hand. "It's a sleepover! Daddy said you and Mommy can stay the night!"

Mom smiled, pulling her own hair tie out and she laughed softly. "That's wonderful! How about you go help MiMi pack an overnight back, huh?" She said, taking her hands in her own before lighting bopping her on the nose. I swear, Angel's eyes sparkled in excitement at her words, and a second later Mom was being dragged to her room so that Angel could, and I quote, "pick out an outfit to make you look like a princess" and knock Astrid and Noel off their feet. I silently laughed, leaning against the counter and looking at the timer on the oven. The brownies still had a ways to go.

                  __**What do you want to do tonight?**  
I'm not sure. Movies?  
                  **Of course :) anything else?**  
Whatever you decide.  
I have to go now, we made it to the photo shoot  
                  **Aw, okay. Is the photographer Vincent?**  
Yeah, I think so  
                  **Tell him I say hi!**  
Will do :)  
See you soon!  <3  
                  **Bye bye, have fun! <3**

I pocketed my phone again and checked the time with the clock on the microwave; 4:30. That means I had an hour and a half before I could see Adrien. I pouted slightly, wishing it was a bit closer to six, but ultimately accepted my fate and after grabbing my notebook, went to Mom's bedroom to ask about dinner plans. I knocked on the door before entering, and Mom called out that I could come in. I opened the door, smiling when I saw Evangelique digging through mom's drawers like she was on a mission.

"What do you need, sweetie?" Mom asked, sitting on her bed next to a gym bag. I sat down next to her and wrote my question, showing it to her.

"What should we make for dinner?"

"Hm..." Mom stared at my notebook as she thought, before looking at Angel. "Well, Angel, sweetie, what would you like?"

Angel popped her head out from Mom's closet, a sparkly blue shawl over her head and a few shirts and dressed bundled carefully in her arms. "Wha'd'ya mean?" She asked, and I showed her my notebook. The six year old let out a loud "Oh!" and pouted slightly as she thought. "Is Adrien coming?"

I nodded, and the six year old started thinking again, humming. It's funny, for a six year old she was actual pretty smart about things... I think it helped that her dad was a dancer, and she had been hanging out with Marinette more as well.

"MiMi should made her chicken fingers!" Evangelique declared after a moment, "Adrien really liked those, right?" She walked over and placed the clothes she had in her arms on the bed while Mom took the shawl off her head and folded it before placing it next to the other accessories Evangelique had picked out. Mom laughed, ruffling the little girl's hair.

"Yes, he did seem to really like those, didn't he? I'll get started on them after we get my outfit picked out, then."

Evangelique squealed happily, and she immediately began jumping up and down, grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards the door. "Out, out! Girls only, Jasper!"

I threw my head back a little to exaggerate my laughter, leaving the room at her request. I rolled my eyes when she slammed the door shut behind me, and Neeks flew out from hiding.

"We sure Angel is only six? She acts like she's 10." I laughed faintly at Neeks' words, walking to my room to clean up whatever was disorganized.

"Then she'll be a 'demon' when she's a teenager." I wrote, making Neeks snicker and nod his agreement.

I sat down at my desk, lightly thumbing assignments for my classes as Neeks settled himself on a small stack of books off to the side. After a few moments, I sighed, took a peppermint from a special jar labeled _Only for studying, tests, and homework_ , popped it it into my mouth, and pulled one of the half-finished worksheets closer to me so I could fill the rest of it out. My room was quiet aside from the sounds of pencil against paper.

Eventually, Neeks flew over to the candy bowl and shuffled through it, looking for a candy that interested him at the moment. He hummed, pleased, when he found one and he settled himself on my shoulder as he ate the candy, looking over the worksheet.

"...Hey, Jasper?" He asked after a few moments, and I quickly wrote in the margins of the paper.

"Yeah?"

"W-When do you think Ana- I-I mean that lady, is going to start attacking?" I raised my eyebrow and carefully grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, moving him from my shoulder to in front of me. I set him on my homework, and stared at him, telling him to explain.

"You know something. Spill." I mouthed, and Neeks looked sheepish, his ears flattening against his head.

"N-No, you'll figure stuff out and I don't want you to know everything yet!" He said quickly, looking up at me with worried eyes.

I visibly sighed, grabbing my talking notebook and flipping it to a clean page. "I won't think about it too much, I promise. You _have_ to tell us something, Neeks, or else we're going in blind."

"You guys handled Oogie-Boogie without knowing anything...." He said weakly, and I looked pointedly at him before starting to write again.

"We thought he was an Akuma. I thought I had killed him, and I'm pretty sure Ladybug thought she had killed him when no butterfly came out. We _need_ to know, Neeks. What- or _who_ are we fighting against?"

Neeks whimpered, tail curling around his hind legs since he was sitting down and it couldn't go between his legs. His ears flattened against his head, and he looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. "Promise you won't think about it too much?"

I nodded, brushing my fingers across my heart as if to say "cross my heart". Neeks was quiet for a while, before he sighed and finally relented.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you who she is. Her name is Anamaqkiu, and unlike Hawkmoth, or even the other Chinese heroes, she isn't a person with bad motives who is misusing a kwami's powers for their own personal gain. She's all bad.... In a way, she _is_ the Kwami."

"...What do you mean? I thought all Kwami's were little animal gods and they gave their powers to humans."

Neeks sighed, smiling almost ruefully. "I told you, Jasper, we American kwamis are _very_ different. You just don't know how different, yet."

I frowned, thinking over that bit of information for a few moments before motioning for him to continue. He crossed his paws in front of his chest, thinking for a few minutes.

"She... Creates these creatures, kind of like how Hawkmoth created Akuma. Except she doesn't need a human to do it. She can find an object- any object- and fill it with her power to create one. She calls them her _chindays_ , and they are a lot more dangerous than Hawkmoth's Akuma, because, if they aren't focused on something else, they _all_ have the desire to kill, and will not hesitate to do it." Neeks said, voice shaking slightly as he remembered the past.

I stared at Neeks, taking in what he said, and slowly nodded. "I see.... Do they try to kill civilians, or do they only want to..." I hesitated, not liking what I was about to write, "Do they want to kill us?"

Neeks whined in distress, not liking what I wrote. He answered, anyway. "They.... They tend to ignore civilians, aside from tormenting them if they are around, or if they are trying to draw our attention. They..." He gulped, voice and body shaking as he slowly continued. "They only wish to kill us. That has been the relationship between Anamaqkiu and I for millions- billions, even- of years."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to write a lot more, but this was too good a place to leave off XD Welcome to the sequel, where everything gets about 5 times darker in the villain department! Most chapters will not have big long author's notes, or any author's note at all, unless I think it is necessary.


	2. Take My Breath Away

I stared at Neeks, taking in what he had said. He looked down, ears flat against his head. If he had thumbs, he'd be twiddling them.

"Seriously?" I wrote, and he whined again, nodding.

"I-I'm sorry, Jasper... I didn't know she'd follow me here.... Or that she knew I had found another chosen..."

I stared at my kwami for a few moments, before sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Jasper, sweetheart, come help me make the food for Adrien! He's coming soon, isn't he?" Mom shouted from the kitchen, making me jump. I grabbed my phone and texted my mom that I was coming, before looking at Neeks with a 'We'll talk later.' look. He nodded, flying to his hiding spot and pressing close to my side as I stood up and went out of my room, acting like nothing was wrong.

I walked back into the kitchen, mouth watering at the smell of brownies filling the room and seeing them cooling off to the side. Mom was once again tying up her hair, and Evangelique was attempting to get out ingredients that she could reach for the chicken fingers.

"The brownies look good." I wrote, showing the girls. Evangelique nodded, while mom just gave me that look that said she knew something was off and was trying to figure out what it was. Thankfully, she didn't say anything about it and smiled instead.

"We can frost them when these are frying. I think they'll be cool enough then." She said, walking over to where she had placed our fryer and picking it up. She brought it over and plugged it in, starting it. "Jasper, sweetheart, can you get the coating ready with Evangelique while I do this?"

I nodded, walking over to where Angel was and grabbing the things she couldn't reach.

\--------

_On the way now!_

I jumped slightly when I got a text from Adrien, pulling my phone from my pocket and biting my lip. I was really happy he was coming over, but what Neeks told me was still stuck in my head.

 ** _Great...  
       Adrien I found out something bad_**  
 _Are you okay?_  
 **.....Kinda?  
        It has to do with you know what**  
Oh no  
Okay, hang on, I'll be there soon and we can talk about it when the girls leave.  
        **Okay**

I set my phone down and returned to watching tv with Evangelique, the small girl tucked into my side. I looked down when I felt her staring at me, and I gave her a questioning look.

"Jasper, are you okay? You seem...." She trailed off, mind searching for a word that she most likely didn't know. "You aren't like you were a while ago." She amended, and I gave her an apologetic smile. Was I really that off? I didn't meant to be.

After a moment she leaned up, hand cupping over her mouth like she was going to tell me a secret. "Does it have anything to do with that scary lady?" I tensed on impulse, and she seemed to take that as her response. She frowned, before hugging me tightly.

"It's okay, Jasper. She scares me, too. But we'll be okay because the heroes will beat her! They always win!"

'Oh, if only you knew, sweetheart.' I ruffled her hair and smiled the nest I could at her, before kissing the top of her head.

"Thank you, Angel. That makes me feel better." I wrote in my notebook, showing her. She smiled innocently up at me and hugged me again. I returned the hug, kissing the top of her head.

\------

Five to ten minutes later, Adrien arrived and I opened the door for him.

Immediately he engulfed me in a tight hug, which I returned after pushing the door shut.

"I don't know what he told you, but whatever it is will be okay." He said softly, giving me a quick, small nuzzle on the cheek before moving back and smiling at me. I smiled shyly back, before tipping myself forwards onto my tiptoes and lightly pressing a kiss to Adrien's lips.

When I moved back, Adrien's cheeks were colored a nice crimson, and I was glad I could still make him blush by something so simple.

A sharp cry came from behind me and the sound of feet thudding against the floor, which told me to move out of the way. I sidestepped out of the way, watching as Evangelique barreled into Adrien full force. "Adrien!" She cheered, hugging his legs as he grunted from her impact.

He laughed, ruffling Angel's hair. "Nice to see you again, too, Angel. It's been a few weeks."

"I missed you!"

"Nice to see you again, Adrien!" Mom called from the kitchen, where got started on the actually cooking part of the food. "I hope you don't mind waiting a bit for the food! I promise it'll take 10 minutes, tops!"

"That's perfectly fine, Mitzi." Adrien called back. "And it's lovely to see you, too!"

Evangelique grabbed Adrien's hand and started pulling him back towards the living room, "Adrien, Adrien! Look, isn't Card Captor Sakura pretty?!" She said excitedly, pointing  to the tv, which was playing the show Cardcaptor Sakura.

Adrien laughed, nodding. "Yes, she is very pretty. Which card is she trying to catch now?"

"Earthy!"

"Earthy, huh? One of the big four." Adrien sat down next to Evangelique, and I sat on the armrest next to him. He leaned against me a little, making me smile as Evangelique went on to explain what had happened so far in the episode before quietly sitting and watching.

I picked Evangelique up when Mom called us for dinner, and about a half-hour later the girls were finally on their way to Noel's home for the night. The moment the door was stuff Neeks flew out from his hiding space, looking sad and guilty and all around ashamed. Adrien and I both let out sighs, and I held out my hand for him to rest on, petting him and giving him a look that said he was not at fault while Plagg flew out from his own hiding spot.

"Okay so what happened? What's you find out, Jasper?" Adrien asked softly, placing a hand on the small of my back and leading us to the living room again. I grabbed my notebook and showed him my side of the conversation, watching as his eyes grew wide. "You- You can't be serious. She's out to _kill_ us?"

"Actually...it's just Jasper and I...." Neeks said quietly, nervous and looking up at us dejectedly. I stared at him, my eyes wide, and Adrien's hand grabbed mine, holding onto it tightly.

"What?" He asked slowly, trying to comprehend and understand. "Is this... Some sort of lover's spat gone horribly wrong, or something?" He asked nervously, and Neeks shook his head slowly.

"N-No, although I truly wish it was, simply so I could stop it. This is how it's been since the beginning; she is purely evil, and Wolven is good." Neeks explained, looking down again after a moment.

"Then why is she only after you two?"

"Each hero needs a villain, do they not?" Neeks smiled weakly, suddenly looking much older and more weary that before. Almost like it was his true age showing through. "She is the one who fights Wolven, whenever I find a chosen...." He looked down, rubbing his paws nervously as his ears pressed back onto his head. "I-I thought.... It had been so long since I last chose anyone, and you were moving here, and- and I thought she wouldn't follow."

My eyes widened when I felt small splashes of tears on my hand, and I glanced at Adrien before pulling the small Kwami to my chest, hugging him as he started letting out small hiccuping cries. "I'm sorry, Jasper.... I didn't want you to have to deal with her.... Y-You just found your own happiness, too...." He said quietly, and I pet him, trying to calm him and let him know I wasn't mad.

Plagg flew over when Neeks started to calm down and landed on my hand, grabbing Neeks' paw. "Hey, let's give them some alone time to process this..." Plagg said, voice surprisingly caring and soft. Neeks sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, before nodding and flying off to a different room with Adrien's Kwami.

Adrien and I watched them go, and when they rounded the corner, I felt a warm hand wrap itself gently around my wrist. He pulled me over to the couch and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms loosely around me. "....You okay?" He asked softly, slowly resting his head on my shoulder. I bit my lip, thinking over what I had learned. It was odd, actually. I felt.... Nothing, at the revelation this Anamaqkiu lady was out to kill me.

Maybe it was just shock.

"Oddly enough.... I feel fine." I wrote in my notepad, looking at Adrien after a moment before going back to the paper. "I know I should feel scared, or... _Something_ , but I don't." Adrien hummed slightly, tightening his hold on me for a moment as he thought over what I wrote.

"Do.... Do you think it had something to do with the fact you're called a 'miracle child'?" He said softly, looking up at me, "You said, one time when you were elaborating the story a little more, that you were declared dead for like a half hour after your accident, and when you woke up they deemed you a miracle child because you survived the damage and woke up."

I blinked at him in surprise for a few moments, thinking it over. I nodded slowly, writing, "Yeah, that... That makes sense, I guess. It's the next logical answer if what I'm experiencing isn't shock. Are you okay?"

Adrien nodded, one of his hands lightly rubbing my side as he sighed softly. "Yeah... I think so. It's hard to... Wrap my head around this. I mean, we're just kids. This isn't something either of us should deal with."

I nodded in agreement, biting my lip again and leaning against him. "It's heavy stuff." I agreed, writing it down in my notebook. "But we have each other, and we've dealt with lots bad guys. We can get through this. Besides, we both know we won't go down that easily." I smiled when he let out a small laugh, and I shifted around a bit to give him a proper kiss, pressing my lips to his for a small moment.

He pulled me a little closer at that, and I smiled even more when I moved back. "Now," I wrote, "How about we do what we were originally going to do tonight? I want movies and cuddles."

Adrien laughed at that, nuzzling me gently. "Sure, alright. What movie would you like to watch first?"

I looked up at the ceiling, tapping my chin in thought. "Corpse Bride?" I suggested, and Adrien nodded, smiling.

"Sounds perfect."

\-----------

"They need lyrics to that song... It's pretty." Neeks said as Victor played the piano, sitting on the couch's arm and nibbling on a piece of chocolate. Plagg scoffed next to him, rolling his eyes.

"This is so boring! Adrien, you said there was a skeleton dog in this!"

Adrien laughed and I smiled, silently laughing from my place against Adrien's chest. "Plagg, the movie's barely begun! That comes later."

The black cat Kwami groaned in exasperation, flopping back onto the arm of the couch and making us laugh even more.

"Shush, Plagg! It'll come soon, just wait!" Neeks said lightheartedly, lightly hitting Plagg on the arm as the small cat God kept groaning in mock disgust at Victor and Victoria's actions.

"They're worse than Marinette!" He said in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air.

I rolled my eyes, taking a small handful of popcorn as I cuddled into Adrien's side some more. Neeks let out a loud gasp when Victor said his vows at Emily's death place, and he looked over to Adrien and I. "Jasper, Jasper! When you and Adrien get married you should have those be your vows!"

I don't think I had ever felt heat rush to my face as fast as it did just then. I hid my face in my hands as Adrien sputtered, and Plagg was gasping for breath where he was dying of laughter on the couch. " _Neeks_!" Adrien stressed to my oblivious Kwmai, voice cracking slightly. "We're sixteen!"

I blushed even more, pulling my knees to my chest as laughter bubbled in my chest and caused my shoulders to shake. "So? You guys can get married when you're 18, can't you?"  Neeks asked innocently, and I snorted.

"Neeks, buddy, you're thinking really far into the future there." I wrote once I managed to get my bearings, and Neeks huffed, his cheeks puffing out slightly.

"What? I like thinking ahead." He said softly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but right now we should probably focus on that annoying enemy of yours, Neeks." Plagg said, grinning widely as he sat back up. " _Then_ , we can talk about their wedding plans." He continued, teasing us.

" _Plagg_!"

"What? You guys are so lovey-dovey you might _never_ break up." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Of course, we'll just have to see what happens."

"Will you guys just _stop_?" Adrien whined, hiding his face in his hands. I could feel and hear his heart racing in his chest, and wondered if I was any better.

"Alright, alright, back to the movie!" I wrote, tapping my notebook to get their attention. "Plagg, the skeleton dog is coming up in like five minutes."

\-------

After a few movies, Neeks was kind enough to transform me, and Adrien and I spent the next hour talking about random things or being dorks and dancing to music on our phones.

"So how's high school treating you?" I asked as I was spun around, and Adrien groaned softly.

"It's actually kind of frustrating. I didn't realize _more_ kids would be at the school from other schools besides ours, and the grades above us had no idea I started going to public school, either." I laughed, rolling my eyes.

"Aw, it's _so_ painful having fanboys and girls fawn over you." I teased, knowing that he didn't like the attention. He whined softly and I laughed again, pressing close to him. "You know I'm only teasing."

"I know, but it's so annoying. You know I don't like signing autographs, either, and they wouldn't _stop asking_!"

I laughed, rubbing his back a little. "You poor thing. While the rest of us are worrying over coursework, you're worried over people asking for autographs." He rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face.

"Oh, shut up. At least I'm not repeating, like, a year and a half."

I groaned loudly at that, resting my head on his shoulder. "Oh my _god_ I'm falling asleep in practically all my classes! I already covered this back in America, but would they place me in the correct year with one of those tests or whatever they do? _No_. Your school is so strange."

Adrien laughed, leaning down to peck my lips. "Well, I'm glad they put you in our year, because if they hadn't, we wouldn't have met."

"We're two thirds of the superhero trio, Adrien."

"You know what I mean!" Adrien said as he playfully and lightly hit my chest, making me laugh again. "We wouldn't have, you know, become _this_. I'd probably still have a major crush on Ladybug, and you probably wouldn't have given me a second thought in the romance department."

I rolled my eyes, scoffing. "You have no faith in me."

"Well, would you?"

I thought for a few minutes, thinking it over. "Hm.... I honestly have no idea." I looked up at him, reaching up to play with a lock of his hair. "I never even really _thought_ about romance or dating until I met you. It just... Kind of happened."

"Well, was it to Adrien or Chat Noir first?"

"I could ask you the same question, and I feel like for both of us, the answer is 'I have no idea.'"

Adrien laughed, smiling down at me. "Yeah, I guess so. Either way, I'm really happy with you."

"Me too." I smiled, twirling the lock of golden hair around my fingers. Adrien's smile grew, and he laughed softly.

"Aw, you're blushing!" He said happily, a light tease in his voice.

I blinked, not knowing I had been blushing. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, it got darker!" Adrien laughed, and I yelped as I was lifted off the ground.

"Whoa, wait, what're you doing?!" I asked, shocked, but a small laugh in my voice as I let out a childish scream as he threw me over his shoulder.

"We're going to your room. It's getting late, after all." He said smugly.

"Why are you carrying me?!"

"Because I thought it'd be fun." He said, depositing me into the bed in a less than graceful way. It only made me laugh, and I grabbed his wrist, pulling him on top of me.

"Get over here, you." I laughed as he grinned and chuckled, and I gladly kissed him again when he moved in close for one. I wrapped an arm around his neck, my other hand still holding onto his wrist, and he wrapped one around my waist, pulling me close.

I always enjoyed kissing Adrien, feeling his warmth envelope me and feel how gently he would hold or touch me. As we had gotten more used to dating and doing things like this, I could _feel_ how much he cared for me in the simple ways he did things like this, and I always ended up wondering if he could feel how much I cared for him in return.

When we finally parted, Adrien's cheeks were flushed red, and I smiled. "There." I whispered, the hand I had tangled in his hair moving to his cheek. I ran my thumb gently over the red dusting his cheek, still smiling. "Now you're blushing, too."

He smiled, laughed, and then we were kissing again.


	3. To The Beat Of A Heart

The next day, Adrien and I decided to spend the day with the others since we hadn't been seeing much of each other now that high school and clubs were kicking everyone's butts. We were going to meet them at the park at 3, which gave us plenty of time to ourselves.

"What do you want for breakfast?" I wrote after rubbing sleep from my eyes, having woken up only a few minutes ago. Adrien hummed from his spot next to me in the bed, resting his head on my shoulder as he read it.

"I'm okay with anything, but I guess pancakes would be pretty good."

"Okay." I smiled, starting to get up from the bed.

"Ah, wait." Adrien grabbed my wrist, pulling me back down. "One more thing, please?"

I rolled my eyes, a whispery, crackly laugh escaping my lips as I moved to give his lips a small peck. "You are such a romantic, you nerd." I wrote in my notebook after straightening my clothes a little, making him blush and laugh as he got out of bed as well.

"What? I like kissing you, and good morning kisses as always nice." He grinned, lightly tapping my nose. "Besides, you like them, too. You're blushing- oh, it got darker again." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and ducking my head down a little more to hide my face from view. I curse the day I told him I usually can't tell when I'm blushing. Now he teases me with it.

He laughed, and we left my bedroom, leaving Plagg and Neeks to continue sleeping while we made food.

"So what would you like to do for Valentine's Day, Jaspie?" Adrien asked as we made the pancake batter, and I glanced at him, shrugging.

"What would you like to do?" I slowly mouthed, since my notebook was a few feet away so it didn't chance getting dirty.

"Well, you know what I was thinking?" Adrien asked, adding a small handful of cut up strawberries to the batter and then a small handful of chocolate chips. I looked at him, smiling in amusement while motioning for him to continue. "I was thinking, maybe we could go to the zoo? They recently added some new animal habitats."

I smiled and nodded, which made him smile. "Great! Do you want to do anything else?" He asked, and once again I shrugged, momentarily stopping so I could grab my notebook and write in it.

"How about we go on one of our little nighttime adventures as Chat Noir and Wolven? We haven't gone on one in a while."

"That sounds perfect." Adrien said happily, pouring some of the batter onto the griddle. I nodded, smiling, and once again set my notebook down away from where we were cooking.

Neeks and Plagg flew in a few pancakes in, Neeks drooling at the sight of the pancakes. "Jasper! Can I have some, please?" He asked, flying over to settle himself on my shoulder.

"It's not just chocolate chip this time, you know." Adrien said with a small laugh, and Neeks pouted.

"I know but it's Jasper's pancakes! You know Jasper and his mom make amazing pancakes, Adrien! Please? Pretty please?" My Kwami begged, and after sharing a look, Adrien and I both relented.

"Alright, alright. You can have a small one, just for you." Adrien said, and to make his point he poured just enough batter to make a silver dollar sized pancake. To appease Neeks' sweet tooth, I added a few more chocolate chips to his pancake. Neeks gasped, gaping at the small pancake just for him for a moment before grinning and flying to hug both of us.

"Thank you!!!" He said excitedly, before making himself comfortable and watching the small pancake from Adrien's shoulder. I rolled my eyes, flipping the pancakes. When Neeks' pancake was done, I took it off the griddle and placed it on a paper towel for him. He squealed happily, flying from Adrien's shoulder and scooping up the paper towel. He flew to the table to eat, and Adrien laughed.

"Plagg never gets that excited over _Camembert_. What does your family put in these?"

"Hey! Neeks is just strange, alright?"

"I heard that, Plagg!"

Smiling, I ignored the kwamis and answered Adrien's question, drawing a heart in the air, then a question mark. I transferred the finished pancakes to the plate with the others, and Adrien poured more batter onto the griddle. "Haha, maybe. You and your mom do make pretty good pancakes even if they are a box recipe." He smiled, reaching up to play with my hair. I hummed slightly, leaning into his touch.

When we finished cooking and eating, we got dressed into more appropriate clothes for the day, and I wrapped a scarf around my neck again. Adrien hummed as he watched, smiling a little. "Don't you ever get hot wearing scarves all the time?"

I shrugged a little, smiling at him as I walked over to his side. "Sometimes in the warmer weather I switch it out for bandanas." I wrote in my notebook, showing it to h a moment later. He smiled.

"Really?"

I nodded, and he chuckled. "That's cute. I've got a little cowboy for a boyfriend." His grin widened, and I knew I was blushing. I hid my face in my hands, and he playfully whined. "No, don't hide! It's cute!" Adrien laughed, lightly taking my wrists in his hands and tugging. I waited a few moments before letting him pull them away, and I pouted at him.

"Aw, don't pout." He said, smiling lovingly. I smiled slightly, faintly giggling, and he grinned. "There we go."

I rolled my eyes and smiled a bit wider. "You sap." I wrote, and he laughed happily.

"You love it."

I was about to respond when a loud crash sounded from outside, and both of us froze. Neeks and Plagg flew over, looking out the window. "It's from the park! People are running from it." Neeks said, flying back over to us. "I think Anamaqkiu finally made her move."

We nodded, transforming, and quickly went to the park, looking for either a chinday or Anamaqiku.

"Chat Noir, Wolven!" Ladybug shouted, running up to us. "Have you guys spotted anything?"

"Not yet, Ladybug." I said softly, biting my lip. "We got here a minute ago, and neither she, or her monsters, and anywhere to be found."

"I'm right here, Wolfy." A voice rang out, the nickname venomous on the woman's tongue. We turned towards the carousel, where a lady sat in the roof, large black leopard ears sitting comfortably on her head and a long black tail flicking around behind her. Her eyes were glowing purple and green, reminding me of Maleficent, and she had a large, malicious grin on her face. "Goodness, now that I finally see you in the daylight, you're actually quite young!"

"What do you want?" I growled, and she laughed, throwing her head back as her long, blood red hair slipped over her shoulder.

"What do I _want_? That is something you will learn at a later date. Right now, I just wanted to see Neeks' new chosen." She jumped from her place on the carousel, walking over in long strides. Chat Noir got in front of me a little as we got into defensive positions, but she simply rolled her eyes and stopped in front of us.

My heart started pounding in my chest as Neeks started to panic, but I tried not to show it. Anamaqkiu giggled, walking around Chat Noir and I. "My, my. You're just a child! What makes you so special, hm? He's never chosen someone so young before."

"Don't even think about touching him." Adrien snapped defensively when he saw her start to reach out a hand. She glanced at him, looking him over, before laughing again.

"Aw, how _cute_." She hissed, eyes flashing dangerously. I instinctually grabbed Adrien's wrist and pulled him closer, away from the evil Kwami. "Little lover boy here things he can fight me."  I snarled at her when she reached for him, and she, once again, laughed.

"We beat Hawkmoth, we can beat you, too." Ladybug snapped, and Anamaqkiu scoffed.

"Oh, please. You three know nothing, and I could easily wipe the floor with you." She said in a dry tone, expression bored as she checked her nails. She sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small heart-shaped object. She held it up towards the light, humming slightly as she examined the object. The way it glittered told me it was a heart-shaped glass gem. "Valentine's day is coming up soon, yes?"

None of us answered, and she scoffed, lightly hitting the side of her head. "Wait, what am I talking about? _Of course_ it's coming up- everything's heart themed!" She turned to us, tossing the glass gem once, twice in her hand. Her smile was once again unpleasant, and it grew wider when she noticed it made all of us uncomfortable.

"Well then, I guess even I must give a gift in honor of our... _Relationship_ on this _adorable_ holiday." The words she stressed held a more potent poison than her other words, causing me to shiver as chills ran down my spine. She brought the gem to her lips, gave it a small kiss, and tossed it into the air.

It turned black, and steadily began to pulse red as something formed around it, morphing into the shape of a human with sharp, jagged wings on its back. When it finished forming, in the air stood a tall human-like creature, the skin pitch black and eyes dark red. It had a bow and quiver, and was dressed in a blood red tunic with a small bit of white at the bottom.

"Cupid." I mumbled, even though I knew it wasn't really Cupid, much less a good one like normal. The wings were all wrong; broken, bloody, and shaped more like bat wings than bird. I flinched when something dripped from the figure, and quickly came to the realization the monster was _bloody_.

"That is something straight out a nightmare." Ladybug said softly, voice shaking a little.

"Are all her monsters going to be this creepy?" Adrien asked, his hand finding my own and holding it tightly.

"I sincerely hope not." I said softly, and Anamaqkiu laughed, looking up almost fondly at the chinday.

"Eros, my lovely Chinday! Be a dear and handle these brats for me, yes? You know the rest." She said darkly, before turning back to us. She waved, smiling mockingly. "Have fun, heroes!" She sang, disappearing into wisps of smoke and soon leaving us with the monster.

**WARNING: POSSIBLY GRAPHIC MENTIONS OF BLOOD WILL BE APPEARING THROUGHOUT THIS FIGHT. TREAD CAREFULLY**

"This isn't good...." I murmured, getting nods of agreement from the others. Our attention quickly returned to Eros, who noisily drew an arrow and notched it to the bow. The tip glittered in the sunlight, hinting at how sharp it must be.

"Okay, nobody panic. We can handle this." Ladybug said in a rather shaky voice that was probably mean to be reassuring.

"Yeah, but right now we need to move!" Chat said quickly, pulling me and Ladybug out of the arrow's path when Eros let go of the bowstring. The chinday started to rapid fire his arrows at us, wings leisurely moving to keep him in the air.

"We should split up, so that one or two of us can distract him, while the others go after him from behind." I suggested as we ran from the barrage of arrows.

"Wait, but-"

"Chat, it's okay. I can handle my own, remember?" I said softly, smiling at him.

"I'll go after him. I can pull him down to the ground with my yoyo, giving you guys a chance to attack him." Ladybug said quickly, voice determined.

Adrien bit his lip and nodded, letting go of our hands after a moment. "Okay. I'll join you, Ladybug." He said, smiling confidently even though his eyes weren't too sure. Ladybug's steps faltered momentarily, and I wondered if she was still hung up on the fact Chat Noir and Adrien were one in the same, before she smirked, nodding.

I grinned, already making the mechanism in my boots power up. "Alright! I'll be the distraction then. Let's beat this weirdo!" After Adrien and Ladybug gave a nod of confirmation, I jumped twice, the mechanism in my boots going off when my feet made contact with the ground the first time and in turn sending me much higher into the air the second time.

I whooped loudly, and started running and bouncing in the opposite direction of Chat and Ladybug, laughing all the while. "Hey, Eros! Come and get me!" I shouted, letting out a short shout of surprise when an arrow landed in front of where my feet had been a moment before.

"Neeks? I have a question!" I asked, swopping back down thanks to gravity and dodging another arrow that clipped my hair. I was glad it didn't touch the feathers.

_What?_

"How often do the chindays have some sort of power with their weapons?"

_Well, it's not rare. JUMP!_

I quickly did as told, flipping in the air and landing with a small stumble as I dodged another arrow. "So, basically, avoid getting nicked."

_Yep!_

I groaned slightly, flinching as an arrow whizzed past my ear. I tsked, and quickly activated my power. "Arcesserre: Cat!" I jumped again when I heard the arrow fly, twisting around to face Eros and landing on my hands and feet like a cat.

I continued dodging, watching Ladybug and Chat Noir from the corner of my eye. Whenever Eros seemed like he was about to notice them, I would do something to capture his attention, slowly getting myself closer to the chinday and continuing to dodge the arrows to the best of my ability. Eros was getting a little too close for comfort, and I'm fairly sure my hair was now a bit more uneven than before because of it.

Ladybug started to spin her yoyo, throwing it when she got enough momentum, and we watched as it wrapped around Eros, tightening around him and pulling his wings against his back. Expression finally filtered onto the Chinday's face, anger and discomfort contorting the otherwise handsome features. He struggled against his bonds as he fell and landed with a grunt onto the ground, and Adrien used his cataclysm on the quiver still full of arrows, disintegrating it.

Eros grunted and growled, snarling up at us as I walked over and unsheathed my metal claws, using them to work my way into Eros' chest more easily. His skin was like goo, splitting around the claws as he let out an inhuman screech and began to writhe. His eyes were glowing pink and red, his teeth elongating and blood now starting to come from his mouth as well. I shivered in both fear and disgust, looking away along with Adrien and Ladybug.

I felt my fingers brush against the glass gem, and the screech Eros let out was so loud all the pigeons in the park scattered and I almost heard a ring in my ears.

My ears flattened against my head and I had barely managed to register the sound of wings snapping string before yelping as I was suddenly sent flying back. I grunted as I slid and rolled across the concrete, feeling my arms and legs get cut up. I blinked up at the sky for a moment, trying to regain my bearings.

"Wolven!"

"I'm okay!" I said quickly when I heard Adrien's worried voice, scrambling to my feet. Eros was snarling, suddenly looking for like a beast than a human, his eyes wild as blood a mix of red and black dripped onto the ground and re-soaked his tunic. His nails became long claws, and his lips pulled back to expose bloody saliva and sharp fangs.

Chat Noir and Ladybug moved in to attack, and after clearing my head enough, I went after Eros as well, activating my power again and changing it to a lion. My own nails grew longer, turning into actual claws, and I felt my teeth grow sharper, turning into my own set of fangs.

Ladybug was darting around Eros, landing punches and kicks here and there when he wasn't looking. Chat Noir was taking him head on with his baton, nearly dancing out of the way whenever Eros would try to attack and blocking with his baton. I watched for a few minutes, waiting for the right moment to jump in. I saw Eros turn towards Ladybug with a feral look in his eyes, noticed the way his hand twitched like he was about to attack, and I knew that was when I needed to jump in.

I lunged forward, barreling into Eros' side and causing him to yelp as my claws dug into his gooey skin. He snarled soon after though, he swatted me off with a growl, and I yelled as I landed on the ground. I heard Ladybug let out a shout of pain, felt the air around me displace as she landed with a pained grunt. "You okay?" I asked, voice scratchy from the snarls and growls. She sat up, rubbing the side of her head, and nodded. Her shoulder was bleeding where Eros must had clawed at her.

Chat Noir let out a cry and my head whipped to face him, eyes widening when I saw him pinned to the ground by Eros. "A- Chat!" I cried out, scared and worried when I saw Eros's teeth start aiming for Adrien's neck. Neeks' anger suddenly flared, and I growled, darting forward. I leapt onto Eros' back, digging my claws in and biting down on the side of his neck. I held back a gag, wanting to spit out the foul tasting goo but holding on tight. Eros started screeching, thrashing and bucking his body in an attempt to get me off.

"Chat! Get the heart and smash it!" Ladybug cried out, panicked. Beeps filled the air from both Adrien's miraculous and my own. I made eye contact with Adrien, and he gulped, nodding before he plunged his hand into Eros's chest.

Eros screeched once more, glass in the street lamps shattering from the frequency, and my grip faltered, allowing him to knock me off. I grunted as I once again reunited painfully with the ground, felt myself instinctively swallow some of the goop still in my mouth as my head banged against the ground painfully and caused me to black out.

\--------

"Wolven! Wolven, you need to wake up!" Ladybug's panicked voice filtered in through the fog in my brain, and I immediately sat up, coughing and gagging up the sludge still in my mouth.

"Ow.... What happened?" I asked, panting as I tried to regain my breath. My head was pounding as I looked at Ladybug, who now looked relieved but worried. I easily noticed that Adrien wasn't there, and my heart started to pound. "Where's Chat?!" I asked, now panicked, and Ladybug smiled slightly, although she looked confused.

"He's just gone to let his Kwami regain energy since he was about to change back. You hit your head when Eros threw you from his back... Are you sure you're okay? You seem oddly worried about Chat."

I stared at her, wondering if _she_ had been the one to hit her head. "What are you talking about? _Of course_ I'm worried about him! He's my _boyfriend_ , and was two seconds away from having his throat bitten!"

Ladybug's confusion grew, but the worry was replaced by anger. "Excuse you, but he's _my_ boyfriend! You barely give him the time of day!" She snapped, which nearly made me flinch like she had actually slapped me.

" _What_?!"

At that moment, Chat Noir appeared beside us, wrapping his arm around Ladybug. "Hello again, bugaboo." He said lovingly, before glancing at me with something akin to distaste. "Dog-breath." I flinched at his words, confused and hurt as I watched Ladybug frown and lightly hit his chest.

"Hey, I keep telling you to get along!" She huffed, annoyed. Adrien's expression turned back into one of love, and he nuzzled her neck while apologizing.

"Sorry, Milday. I can't help it. You know dogs and cats never get along."

"I'm not a _dog_ , I'm a _wolf_." I responded almost instantly, too used to replying that way to that statement whenever someone mentioned it. I barely even heard what he said, and I hadn't even meant to speak at all. I was still confused, still _hurt_ by the drastic difference Adrien was giving me. This- This was all wrong.

I thought about what happened, what would be causing me to see this. My eyes widened when I remembered swallowing some of the goo that formed Eros.

He glared, opening his mouth to respond, but Ladybug placed a hand over his mouth. "Chat, don't. I think he hit his head harder than we thought." Adrien furrowed his eyebrows, looking from Ladybug to me. He licked her hand, making her gasp and yank it away before looking at it with disgust. "Ew! What was that for?!"

"I have a question." He stated, a smug grin on his face. "What makes you think he hit his head super hard?"

"Well, for one thing, he was worried about you. For another, he said _he_ was your boyfriend."

"I _am_ his boyfriend!" I shouted, and Chat Noir scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Dude, no you're not. We aren't even _friends_! We don't even want to work with each other, remember?" I stared, feeling my heart pound in my chest. This definitely wasn't right. Adrien and I have always gotten along, even as Chat Noir and Wolven. Even in the beginning, it was Ladybug who didn't like me while Chat Noir wanted to include me.

"I-I don't... I don't get it. This-This is all wrong."

Ladybug groaned in annoyance, frowning. "Fine, will this prove it?" She turned towards Adrien, and firmly planted her lips to his. I quickly looked away, gulping nervously when Adrien had relaxed into it and eagerly kissed back. This definitely wasn't right. Neither of these two were like this, and Adrien and I were together. I knew this was all fake, but it _looked_ real and it _hurt_ and I wanted to _wake up_ -

\--------

"Wolven! Wolven, are you okay?!" Ladybug's voice was shouting when I regained awareness, and I was _definitely_ immediately aware of the disgusting sludge in my mouth. I quickly sat up, ignoring how my head swam, and turned away from a relieved Ladybug so I could gag and cough up the sludge. It splattered on the ground before fizzling away into nothing, and I took in deep breaths, continuing to spit out any saliva that pooled in my mouth in an attempt to get rid of the disgusting taste. I noticed that Adrien wasn't anywhere to be seen, making my heart drop. Oh no, was it still happening on repeat or something? Was he okay?

"C-Chat-"

"He's fine!" Ladybug said almost too quickly, voice softening soon after as well as her eyes. She rubbed my back comfortingly. "He's fine, Wolven. He had to go before he changed back, but he promised he'd be back as soon as his Kwami ate."

I relaxed slightly, sighing in relief. So he was okay.

"Are you alright? You hit your head pretty hard.... You were unconscious for a few minutes."

I flushed in embarrassment, laughing nervously as I tried not to worry. "Shoot, really? I'm sorry. I need to come up with new tactics that don't include claws and hanging on for dear life, it seems." I laughed again, but Ladybug didn't look impressed. In fact, she looked like she was thinking about cuffing me upside the head if it hadn't been where I was hit.

"Yeah, you do. Do you realize how scared I was when I _heard_ your head hit the ground?" A familiar voice said from behind, and I really did feel my body relax this time, turning to see Chat standing behind me. His eyes held relief in them, but it was quickly replaced with worry when my eyesight blurred and something warm trailed down my cheeks, and he quickly knelt beside me, holding me close. "Wolven? Wolfy? Hey, what's wrong?"

I let out a shaky cry, overwhelmed by the sudden relief I felt at the fact that Adrien was worried about me add that we were okay. "I-I hate that stupid Eros..." I mumbled through my cries, and Chat seemed to understand, pulling me as close as he could and kissing the top of my head.

"It's okay. It's okay, I'm right here; you're my boyfriend, not anyone else." He said softly as I clung to him, not burying my face in his chest but hugging him as tight as I could.

We stayed as close as possible to each other the rest of the day.


	4. The Heart of Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a picture of Anamaqkiu (pronounced ah-nah-mah-kyuh) that a lovely person on Wattpad's requested, but I need to get it on tumblr before adding it on here thanks to needing a source and link to the picture. Will be up ASAP.  
> Update: Tumblr didn't work, so have a link to the deviantart version instead!  
> Oh, and the zoo is laid out like the one in St.Louis because that's the only one I've been to and actually remember where things are, along with animals I remember being super excited for from when I went to the Phoenix Zoo back in 2006, so I apologize for any differences that zoos in France might/ probably have. Also I apologize in advance for some probably harsh criticisms about America right now in the nighttime outing between Chat Noir and Wolven further down. It's not political, but it reflects how I've been feeling for almost two years now (which, in a word, is unhappy).  
> This is probably the only chapter where things like this will come in, but please keep in mind that I am making this as close to real-life as it can get, and people have their criticism and opinions about controversial topics and other countries or trivial things, etc. Jasper is my OC and part of me, so he'll have a tendency to reflect my views on things.
> 
> Happy Valentine's day and enjoy the Valentine's day chapter, guys!

Valentine's Day was upon us, and Mom was excited that I was finally going on a slightly more public date with Adrien for a good portion of the afternoon once school was over. She handed me four of the many goodie bags of homemade chocolate that she, Evangelique, and I had made the night before once I was out of my room that morning, and she smiled lovingly.

"Happy Valentine's Day, sweetie." She said, kissing my forehead. I smiled in return, holding out a small teddy bear holding chocolate and a card. Mom smiled and giggled, taking her gift. "Thank you sweetheart. Now, I hope you realize that two of those are for Adrien and one is for you, yes?"

I chuckled slightly and nodded. Half the bags were different colors- only two of them the same. The reason Adrien had three was because he had one from Mom, one from Evangelique, and another from me.

"Eva was adamant on giving you hers in person, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait." Mom said with another small laugh. I smiled, nodding once more.

Mom hummed, smiling and running her hand through my hair before straightening my clothes a bit more. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head to let my hair fall back into my eyes. "Ah! Hey!" Mom scolded, poking my forehead. "I'm just trying to make you look even nicer for your little date!" I smiled, holding back a small laugh.

"I'm just going to get more disheveled because of school, mom." I wrote, and she whined softly.

"I know, but you could at least look nice when you see him this morning!"  She started smoothing out my hair again, fingers ringing over the feathers carefully. She hummed, smiling at me. "You know, this is just speculation, but your hair feathers have stayed in for a lot longer than normal, and they look a lot like Wolven's, too."

I willed my body not to tense, glancing up at her nervously. She smiled at me, lightly licking her fingers before running them over my hair again. "Just speculation." She repeated with a hum, as well as a small giggle.

I nodded, smiling at her, and after a few more minutes I left for school since the high school was further away and I couldn't afford to be late. I blinked when I went outside, tilting my head to the side curiously as I stared at the limo in front of the house. I blushed when Adrien got out of the car, a huge grin on his face.

"Hey! I thought we could go to school together, today."

I hid my face in my hand, the other gripping the strap of my bag. Adrien laughed, pulling my hand from my face. "Come on, please?"

"What about keeping the relationship secret?" I traced onto his hand with my finger, and he chuckled.

"I can always say it was something I only do for my friends when allowed, or something. Although I don't think anyone will question it." I glanced up at him, and instantly melted under his hopeful smile and puppy dog eyes. I nodded, and his grin grew. "Great!"

He pulled me into the limo, and I waved hello to Nathalie and Gorilla. They simply nodded back, and Nathalie had a small smile on her face.

I remembered the chocolates in my bag and took out the ones from mom and Evangelique, handing them to Adrien before taking one of his hands and tracing, "From the girls." on it.

"Your mom and Angel made these?"

I nodded, and he smiled even wider. "That's so sweet of them! Make sure to tell them I say thank you." Adrien said, and I nodded, giving him a thumbs up.

We made it to school in no time, and we quickly got out of the car. Before we got out, I grabbed my notebook and I wrote one two pages, "Thank you", along with a heart that said "Happy Valentine's Day" in the center, and tore them out to hand them to Nathalie and Gorilla. I got out quickly after that, smiling happily at Adrien.

He smiled back, although it faltered when a rather annoying voice broke out from the trickle of students entering the school. "Adrikins!"

"Oh no." Adrien mumbled, sighing softly as he turned to face the school steps where Chloe and Sabrina were coming down the steps.

"Adrikins, do you have anything for me?" Chloe asked with what seemed to be a flirtatious smile to him and a small glare to me as she pressed herself against him. Adrien looked really uncomfortable as he grabbed her wrists gently and pushed her away.

"No, Chloe, I don't. We've been through this before; I don't like you like that, and you keep being a jerk to my friends. That doesn't warrant Valentine's day gifts. And the last time I did something special for you on Valentine's Day, you used it to make girls in our school cry."

Chloe huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Please, like it was really that bad. It doesn't matter, anyway." She glared at me, and I kept a neutral, bored face, not giving her the satisfaction of reacting to her glare. "Besides, I'm much better company than this _freak_."

I grabbed Adrien's wrist when I saw anger flash in his eyes, tugging on it gently and shaking my head when he looked at me.

Adrien took a deep breath, hand grabbing my own, and gave it a small squeeze as he looked back to Chloe. "You know what, Chloe? I'm done. Just leave me and Jasper alone until you remember what it means to be nice. Come on, Jasper." He started walking away, pulling me with him. I followed, running my thumb over his knuckles.

We found a quiet and less traveled part of the building near our classes to stop at, and he looked down. "I'm so sorry about what Chloe said."

I rolled my eyes, patting his arm gently before flipping to the front of my notebook where the most common phrases were. "It's okay." I showed him, and he smiled a little weakly.

"No, it's not. She called you a freak and has been mean to you since day one."

I shrugged, smiling. "It happens, love." I wrote, "She doesn't know my story, and takes pleasure in making people feel lesser than her. The best thing to do for me is not give her the time of day. For you, it'd be similar, but since you are like, her oldest friend, you could always trying knocking her down a peg or two." Adrien sighed softly, reaching up and brushing hair from my eyes.

"I don't like it. You've been through so much, and she's done horrible things to you." His hand moved from my face to my scarf, and he played with the end. "I'm still mad at her for exposing your scars."

"That was a year ago."

"Still." I rubbed his shoulder again, glancing around before giving him a quick peck on his lips.

"Can I give you my gift, now?" I wrote, making him laugh and roll his eyes from the change in topic.

"Of course. I'll give you yours, as well." Adrien said, shuffling around his his bag while I pulled out the small bag of chocolate for him. He handed me a small bag of Ghirardelli chocolates, and I handed him his gift, giving him another small kiss on the cheek in thanks. He smiled, pecking my lips again. "Happy Valentine's Day, Jasper."

"Happy Valentine's Day." I mouthed back.

\----------

That afternoon, once school was done, we took the subway to the zoo. We wandered around for a few hours, looking at the animals. One of the newer exhibits was African Painted Dogs, so we spent a while watching them and the other African animals in this section of the zoo. I think we actually spent most of our time there, aside from looking at the exhibits that weren't in the sections. We laughed at the prairie dogs when they started letting out calls and trolling each other from their dens, and enjoyed spotting the red panda as it lounged in it's little house with it's face in the sun. We watched the peacocks roam around the zoo without a care in the world.

We walked into the bird sanctuary and looked at all the direct birds, listening as a bird let out long, lonely whistles from it's enclosure. When we found it, Adrien and I took turns whistling back to it, and each time it responded. One of the workers watched us with mirth in her eyes when she walked past, and I assumed the bird responding wasn't a common occurrence. Adrien and I dubbed the bird, "Whistle".

We bought cotton candy to split and went to Big Cat Country to see the Panthers and other big cats, hearing the male lion roar as we watched the tigers play in their space. We wandered through Big Cat Country, watching each animal for a few minutes before continuing on to the next.

We stayed in front of the panther exhibit for a bit longer than the others. "You know," I wrote as we watched the big cat swat at something in the air. "I wonder why Anamaqkiu has black leopard characteristics. Like, they are actually rather _nice_ and helpful, but she's.... Bad."

Adrien read what I wrote, shrugging a little. "Who knows? Maybe she just likes that animal, or maybe she's using it because it's the closest she can get to a black cat without being a black cat."

I smiled, shrugging lightly. "Maybe, but you are a good black cat, so I really hope you aren't suggesting black cats are bad."

"No, no! Not at all." Adrien assured. "Either way, let's not think too much about it right now. I have an exhibit I _really_ want to show you."

"What?"

Adrien smiled knowingly, taking my hand, and he started pulling me towards the other entrance to the zoo, sometimes stopping so that we could look at the animals along this part of the zoo. Adrien's smile grew the closer we got to the exhibit he wanted to show me, but I still had no idea what it was.

"Alright, here it is!" My eyes widened when we stopped in front the the habitat, and a small family of wolves trotted by. I looked at the name placard, seeing that they were Mexican Gray Wolves, and I quickly tapped the coat pocket Neeks was in, getting his attention. When Neek's popped out his head and saw the wolf family, he gasped softly.

"I found out that one of their wolves had given birth a few months ago and knew I had to show you and Neeks them."

"They're so pretty... It's been so long since I saw Mexican Gray Wolves in person." Neeks whispered, and I nodded in agreement. Adrien smiled, wrapping an arm loosely around me.

"Okay you two, see the one that's paler in color than the rest? Guess what his name is?"

My eyes widened, and I looked at him to see if he was joking.

_Is he saying what I think he's saying?_

Adrien's grin grew, and he nodded. "Yep. His name is Wolven. Says so on the zoo's website."

Neeks let out a small happy whimper, and I smiled, laughing happily. I coughed a second later, but my smile never left. "That's- that's awesome!" I wrote, and Adrien nodded again.

"I know, right?! I knew you guys would like it." He smiled proudly and I hugged him tightly, nuzzling him a little. He laughed softly, and hugged me back. He gasped slightly, and moved back, pointing to the wolves. I looked and gasped softly, finding the family all sitting and watching Adrien and I with curious expressions.

I felt Neeks slip out of his hiding spot and climb up so he could whisper, "They know who you are, Jasper. They can sense me with you."

"That is so weird and cool." Adrien whispered back, smiling down at the wolves. I crouched to look at them through the wooden posts, hesitating before holding out my hand. I didn't think they could reach, but it was worth a shot to try, right?

The adult wolves walked over and stood on their hind legs, sniffing at my hand before giving it a hesitant lick. Neeks slowly crawled down my sleeve, hiding under it, and stuck his head out, and the adult wolf grinned, huffing slightly before licking his head eagerly. The pups yipped and barked, Wolven pawing at the concrete and tail wagging. Neeks giggled.

"They like you." Adrien commented, smiling and crouching next to me. "Guess they consider you and Neeks family."

\-------

Later that night, Adrien and I met up for an outing as Chat Noir and Wolven. We met up in the park and wandered around like normal.

"Thank you for showing us the wolves. Did you know they're really rare in America?" I said after while, swinging our clasped hands back and forth.

"You're very welcome." He said with a small chuckle, lifting our arms and spinning me around. I laughed, and he continued speaking. "And I kind of figured since they were here. Did you ever see them where you lived?"

I shook my head, glancing up at him before once more lifting our arms and making him spin. "Nope. I didn't live in the right area. Neeks has seen them before, though. He was around when they still populated southern Arizona. Apparently some of his friends were a part of those wolf packs."

"I see. It's so sad such beautiful creatures are being killed."

"People don't understand they're important to the balance of nature." I sighed, taking his other hand when we found a spot to ourselves. We started dancing to no music as we spoke, although it was mainly just swaying side to side. "They probably won't realize it until only the ones in zoos are left, and all their prey run wild. Like Yellowstone."

"Yellowstone?"

I nodded, ear flicking from Neeks' irritation. "Basically, there was a time period where no wolves were in Yellowstone because they had hunters come and hunt them all since they were killing the other 'nicer' animals that people wanted to see, like elk. Elk and the other herbivores overpopulated, thus killing the trees and other plants, and Yellowstone was, basically, dying. So they had to bring wolves back, and everything back to normal now, although I think the wolves are regulated a bit." I paused, laughing slightly. "Well, that's the edited version and summary of what I remember from the book I have on it. Either way, it shows that places with wolves can't really thrive without them or some other major predator."

"We humans sure are ignorant creatures." Adrien said softly with a small smirk.

I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck and laughing softly. "Not _all_ humans. You're pretty knowledgable."

"You do realize I grew up really sheltered, right?" I scoffed slightly, rolling my eyes.

"You know more than most of my classmates from America. Those are city-born, millennial _snowflakes_ who don't know what's best for their country right now and believe all the elders are trying to destroy their lives."

Adrien raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "Those seem like harsh criticisms."

I laughed at his words before groaning softly when I thought about America's situation. "That entire country is going downhill- it's not safe there anymore, for _anyone_ , really, no matter what anyone says. I have very strong opinions about things, which neither many if not all of our generation nor most adults will agree with because it's a mixture of the two. Mom says I have the heart and body of a child, but an old soul. As much as I liked America before moving, I'm glad I'm not there anymore."

Adrien hummed, spinning me again. "Well, you can rant to me whenever you like."

I laughed again, smiling. "That's sweet of you, but I promise, I won't do it anymore unless we are talking about it. Besides, I went off on a tangent that I honestly shouldn't have gone on,so let's change the topic again. I don't want to end our date like this."

Adrien hummed, giving me a short kiss. "Alright. Did I ever tell you you have the most wonderful laugh?"

I blushed, laughing again out of embarrassment. "Which one are you talking about? The one that I have as Wolven, or the really ugly one that always ends with me nearly coughing up a lung?"

Adrien grinned at me, lifting me up slightly. "Both."

"What?" I asked, laughing still. "But the one I normally have is terrible! It's so grating, and crackly, and just _sounds_ awful and like it hurts."

"Really? Because what I hear is you enjoying yourself and expressing your joy, amusement, embarrassment, and happiness. I see you smiling and your eyes brightening until that moment it has to end so you can save your throat from more damage. I see you at one of your most beautiful moments, and I can honestly say it takes my breath away, just like the one you're doing now."

I bit my lip, still giggling from embarrassment and the fact Adrien was now holding me up over his head like Rafiki did to Simba in The Lion King. "Ooooohhhhh my goooood! You are such a sap. Put me down, please. Why are you even holding me like this?" I hid my face in my hands, which made him laugh happily.

"Why am I doing this?" He repeated, before letting out a thoughtful hum. "Hm... Good question. I think it's so I can do this." He shifted his hold, making me wrap my legs around his waist, and I cried out in surprise when I was suddenly dipped, laughter bubbling up once more.

"You are sUchiha a dork!" I laughed, once more wrapping my arms around his neck, and Adrien laughed as well, lifting me upright once more and making sure I was still being held well. I leaned down and met his lips in a kiss, pressing as close as I could to his body. He laughed softly against my lips, tangling a hand into my hair and lightly tugging.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my lovely little wolf." He whispered against my lips.

I smiled, nuzzling Adrien lovingly. "Happy Valentine's Day, my amazing, adorable black cat."

* * *

   
[Anamaqkiu: The Chinday Creator](http://cancersufferer.deviantart.com/art/Anamaqkiu-The-Chinday-Creator-665681086)

 


	5. What should the ship names be?

What should the ship names be? I need one for Chat Noir/Wolven next chapter but don't have any ideas (or good ones, at least), and thought it'd be nice for ideas for all of them.


	6. Song of Storms

I sat next to Alya in our lunch break, watching with amusement as she went on and on about her newest edition to the Ladyblog. Since Hawkmoth had been defeated and Adrien, Marinette, and I had only been doing simple things like patrol, Alya had needed to spice up the Ladyblog. For a while, she tried to figure out who Hawkmoth was, but Ladybug personally came to tell her and after that she completely dropped it, explaining to her viewers that it was a private matter and shouldn't be pressed. She had given Adrien her condolences in private, before saying that it was great his dad was becoming nice again.

Since that was over, though, she still needed something new to blog about besides continuing to try and figure out who the three of us were. So, she had been creating sections solely filled with what she was calling WolfNoir/ Felicanthropy, or a section that was slowly being filled with the mysteries and theories surrounding Wolven and Anamaqkiu. Another part of her blog was devoted to LadyNoir vs. WolfNoir, and it was... Odd, to say the least. I avoided that page, honestly, because some of the people who shipped Ladybug and Adrien together were kind of mean. Heck, some people who shipped Adrien and I together were being mean. Even though Alya regulated the comments and deleted the mean comments, there was always someone who had to offend others and somehow slipped through her efforts of keeping it friendly.

Just a few minutes ago, in fact, had she been ranting about those kinds of people. Now, though, she was going on and on about the new page she was planning to add in a few days, dedicated to all the chindays that we've fought. She already had one for the akumas.

"So, the first one to appear was Oogie-Boogie, right? And he was all about expose people's fears and scaring them. He exposed each hero's fear- although I'm not entirely sure what they were, since I couldn't get close enough, and his life-source was a small gravestone paperweight. Then we had Eros, who was sort of like a messed up Valentine's Day gift? And he... Did something, to Wolven, that made him cry in relief at the sight of Chat Noir when he reappeared."

I shivered slightly at that memory, but my amused expression never left as Alya continued to explain about each chinday and how they were similar or different. "Something about them is odd, though." I tilted my head in question, motioning for her to go on as I sipped at my water. She bit her lip, looking at me.

"They always focus on Wolven."

I furrowed my eyebrows, grabbing my notebook and placing it on my lap as I wrote my response. "Well, isn't that because he distracts while Ladybug and/or Chat Noir go after their life source?" I showed her what I wrote, and she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, yeah, but I mean... It's like they don't notice Ladybug and Chat Noir at all, even when they are helping him distract. It's odd." Alya sighed, leaning back agains the back of the bench and looking up into the sky. Her barely touched lunch sat next to her, and I lightly nudged her to remind her to eat it. "Something about all of this just doesn't feel right. There are too many missing pieces." She went back to eating her lunch, and I shrugged slightly, agreeing with her.

'I know more than she does, but... I still don't have the full story.' I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket, feeling Neek's lick my fingers. I scratched at his chin as Alya and I fell into a comfortable silence, and after a moment I pulled out two pieces of candy, offering one to her. She smiled and took it, cooing playfully.

"Aw, you're such a sweetheart! You always know what I need!" She laughed softly, opening the wrapper and popping the butterscotch candy into her mouth. "Why do you always have candy, anyway?"

"I have a sweet tooth, and sucking on hard candies soothes my throat." I explained, and she nodded sympathetically.

"Ah, I see. That makes sense. You know, it's been a while since school started- heck, it's half over already! But it's still odd not having our full group at lunch anymore. We all have different lunch periods."

"At least we have a class or two with them."

"It's still weird." Alya sighed heavily again, lightly bumping her shoulder against mine. "I miss sitting together in Madame Bustier's classroom. I don't get to tease any of you anymore!"

I laughed softly, rolling my eyes a little. Alya laughed happily, ruffling my hair. "You and Marinette were the most fun to tease! Both of you had crushes on the school's resident pretty boy, and flushed red at every little thing involving him. Of course, that hasn't changed, but now you and him are, well, _you know_." I blushed, and she laughed softly, amused. "Aww, you still do it!"

I whimpered slightly and lightly hit her arm, which only made her laugh more. "Are you guys ever going to go public?"

'We kind of are, already...' I thought, shrugging. I grabbed my notebook, writing, "Adrien doesn't want the paparazzi getting in our faces, and he doesn't want me to get hate. Especially from someone like _Chloe_. We're waiting for a better, safer time."

"You've been dating for almost a year now. Your anniversary is when Hawkmoth was defeated. Isn't that long enough?"

I shrugged, smiling. I really didn't mind how long it would take; I was fine with how things are now. "I think we'll tell his dad first, and then we'll go public. And I think we'll wait for him to warm up to me a bit more."

"He likes you more than he likes Nino." Alya pointed out, and I rolled my eyes.

"I don't know why he thinks Nino is a bad influence. At least he's letting Adrien hang out with him more often, now."

"And that's thanks to you."

"He likes Marinette more than he likes me. She's into fashion, has amazing designs. What did I do our first meeting? Almost fell into a panic attack because he reached up to adjust how I was wearing a scarf." Alya read what I wrote and looked at me sadly, reaching up to ruffle my hair again.

"It's not that bad, I'm sure. He understands, doesn't he? He keeps letting you hang out with Adrien, and he's been careful around you, right? I think he's worried he might accidentally trigger another panic attack." I sighed softly and shrugged.

"Perhaps."

She smiled softly and stood up, stretching. "Have more faith in yourself, Jasper! _You're_ the one Adrien likes, not Marinette. If Mr. Agreste can't see that, then he need thicker glasses and a good kick to the rear. Now, come on, we need to go or else we'll be late for math." I nodded and stood up, collecting my things. We threw away our trash and headed for our math classroom as the bell signifying the start of the next lunch period rang.

\---------

"What do you think? Odd, isn't it?" Ladybug stated after patrol that night, having stated the same oddity about the chindays that Alya had. Of course she had been spending time with Alya today.

"Well, I mean, they _are_ out to kill me." I said, a little exasperated as I leaned against Chat Noir. "We told you that a few weeks ago, after Eros."

"You never explained _why_ though!" Ladybug huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting like a child.

"Milady, you were the one who wanted to keep secrets between us still. Wolven and I know who we are, and you know who I am. Why don't we all just get it over with and know each other's identities? Then we could do a better job of explaining the situation to you."

"Yeah, you're the leader."

Ladybug blushed, embarrassed, and scoffed, shaking her head. "That was with Hawkmoth. I'm even more out of my element here, you know that." She explained, and I rolled my eyes, smiling slightly.

"Just because you can't purify anything doesn't mean you aren't helpful and in your element. You've broken as many of the objects as Chat Noir and I have." I reminded her, and Chat Noir nodded in agreement.

"Still. You're the one completely in your element here, Wolven. Although you could use some work at being a bit less impulsive." She smirked slightly when she said that, and I groaned softly.

"Sorry! It's hard to do that after activating my power! It's like my Kwami's animalistic instinct takes over. I just... Go for it."

"Is that why you always jump onto the chinday's and go for their neck?" Chat asked curiously, looking down at me, and I shrugged.

"Probably." I admitted, reaching up and back so that I could fiddle with Adrien's fake ears. He started purring a few minutes later, and I grinned wolfishly. "Pretty kitty." I murmured, making him blush darkly. Ladybug and I laughed, and Chat Noir pouted, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his chest.

"No fair." He huffed, burying his face in my hair.

"You do it to me all the time! I deserve some payback!" I said, laughing happily. He huffed again and placed a small kiss on the back of my neck, careful to do it in a place I was okay with being touched.

"I know you do." He hummed, fiddling absentmindedly with my shirt. "But I Camembert to let you get away with it so easily." He purred, kissing along my jaw and teasingly having his fingers brush against the small bit of skin peeking out from under my shirt. I blushed darkly, and Ladybug groaned.

"Chat! You two are in public, remember? Lay low on the flirtatious touches and kisses." She reminded, making him blush darkly as he moved to set his chin on my shoulder and making my lips quirk up into a smile.

"Sorry...! I can't help it." I tilted my head a little curiously to the side, and giggled as Chat grumbled, "Stupid hormones." under his breath.

"It's okay, Kitkat. I liked it, it tickled." I hummed softly, making them both laugh softly from amusement.

"Tickled? That wasn't what I was going for, necessarily, but I'm totally okay with that." Chat said, lightly curling his fingers and tickling along my sides. I giggled, biting my lip. My eyes widened slightly when Ladybug and Chat both shouted, "TICKLE ATTACK!" And suddenly I was being assaulted by Ladybug's hands as well, laughing as they both tickled my sides as stomach.

"Nohohoho! Stop it, guys!" I cried out while laughing, gasping for air already. I wasn't used to laughing so hard anymore.

"No way! This is too cute to ignore!" Chat said, his hands moving to my armpits. I let out a _totally_ manly screech and tried to keep his fingers from tickling me, shaking my head and kicking out my legs in an attempt to stop Ladybug from tickling my sides and stomach anymore.

"You've been too sullen lately!" Ladybug said with a laugh, humming as she continued to tickle my sides while easily dodging the small and light kicks I was sending her way.

I continued to squeal and protest, twisting my body this way and that to try and avoid their hands. My eyes were tearing up and I could barely catch my breath, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much. They stopped after I shouted "Uncle" a few times, and I laid against Adrien's hip as I tried to catch my breath. He rubbed my side lightly, smiling a little apologetically. "Better?" He asked after a moment, and I simply gave him a thumbs up.

Ladybug laughed again, patting my head, and she stood up. "Well, I need to get going. I have a big test tomorrow, and I'd like to be awake for it."

Chat and I nodded, and he said bye for the both of us. She left, and I cuddled into Adrien more as I caught my breath. His hand found its way into my hair, and I hummed, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling my legs towards my chest. "Do you want to head back?" He asked after a few moments, and I shook my head.

"I think mom and her lovers are... Getting physical.... at our place tonight, actually..." I said softly, and Chat's face burst into Crimson.

"Do they not remember you're supposed to be there?"

I shrugged lightly. "To be honest, I told them I was going to spend the night out with someone from our friend group, and after this I was going to join you at your place for a sleepover? Only if you want to, of course, because saying that out loud made me feel like I was imposing."

Adrien laughed softly, lightly tugging at my hair. "Of course I want you to. Besides, that's like our norm, anyway. One of us almost always ends up at the other's house to spend the night."

"True. But still."

I rested my head on his leg after a moment, fingers playing loosely with his belt since it was the only thing to fiddle with within my reach. Adrien hummed, hand continuing to run through my hair. I sighed, relaxing in the quietness of the moment. "Adrien...?" I said softly after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want moments like this to end."

Adrien smiled down at me, nodding. "Me too, Jaspie."

\-------------

The next day, there was a Chinday attack in the early morning that shocked Adrien and I awake, the both of us tumbling out of his bed and onto the floor, trapped in blankets.

Adrien hissed, eyes wide with panic as he scrambled out from under me and held up a hand in a signal to stay still. We listened for a few moments, and when we didn't hear the sound of anyone walking in our direction, stood up. Neeks and Plagg were awake, flying around us with worry as the early morning light seeped into Adrien's room.

"We need to go, you two!" Plagg snapped, glancing outside, where lightning streaked across the gray sky and thunder crashed even though no storm was raging. The wind was howling and the trees in the city were nearly leaning sideways, everything dulled by the sanctuary of being indoors.

"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien shouted, and Neeks flew into my necklace. Transformed, we climbed out of Adrien's room, listening as the wind howled loudly and whipped our faces with our hair. It was much worse outside, and I flinched as a lightning strike cracked right beside us in the sky.

"Do you see where it's coming from?!" I shouted, trying to hear even myself over the howl of the wind. Adrien shook his head, scanning the city and the air.

"No, I don't! Whatever is causing this is leaving no source to find it by!"

"Could you see Lady- whoa!" I jumped to the side, grabbing Adrien as I did and pulling him away as lightning connected with where we had been moments before. I gulped, looking over to Adrien, and he was pale, staring at the spot with wide eyes. "We should get down!"

"Agreed!" He shouted, and quickly we jumped from the top of Adrien's roof, landing on the stone streets of Paris once more.

We started running through the streets, looking for safe places to climb so that we could scan the skies or the city for the Chinday or Ladybug. We ran through the streets even as it began to rain; thick heavy sheets that soaked us through immediately. Chat grabbed my hand as we started passing an alley, pulling me to a stop. "Wait, I saw Ladybug!" He shouted, and I nodded, following him after he pulled me in that direction.

"Ladybug!" We both shouted, watching as she whipped her head in our direction.she started running towards us, his hair whipping her in the face and sticking to it enough she had to pull it away with her hands.

"Guys!" Her voice was barely able to be heard over the storm. "Have you seen it yet?!"

"No, we haven't!"

"I take it that means you haven't?!"

Ladybug muttered something then, too quiet for us to hear. My ears felt like they were going to start bleeding if the wind kept howling into them at this magnitude.

"Are we even sure it is one?!" She shouted after a moment, and I nodded, covering my ears.

"Neeks said he sensed something! Lately that tends to mean Anamaqkiu or one of her chindays! Besides, as far as I know, Paris would never get this bad a storm!" I coughed after speaking, my throat already raw from all the shouting. I may speak a lot more in this form, and the scars healed, but it didn't mean my vocal cords weren't weak. All this screaming we had to do was hurting them much faster than Adrien and Ladybug. Adrien rubbed my back gently, wordy in his eyes.

"Maybe we should head over to Master Fu's for a bit! We need to sort thus out and figure out a plan while we still can, and Wolven's throat probably won't last much longer!"

"I think that's a good idea!" Ladybug agreed, and together, we ran to Master Fu's home, hoping he was awake and looking for the Chinday while we could.


	7. The Eye of the Storm

As we ran to Master Fu's, water splashed beneath our feet, large puddles forming all along the streets as the rain continued its torrential downpour and slowly merging together. Even though it was around the time for Paris to be waking up and going to work or coming home from night shifts, no one was outside except us, although lights were coming on as people woke up.

"Hey, guys?!" Ladybug shouted, looking back at Adrien and I, "I just realized, our parents are going to have heart attacks when they find out we aren't in bed!"

Adrien gasped, and my eyes widened. "Shoot! My mom thinks I'm at a friend's!"  
"My dad is going to _kill_ me!"  We shouted, all three of us exchanging glances before picking up the pace.

When we reached Master Fu's home, we were relieved to see a light in one of the windows, and he opened the door the moment we reached it.

"Quickly, in here. You three look completely soaked." He said, and we gladly went into his home, although we stopped just past the doorway.

"That's because we are, sir." I said after a moment, looking down at the puddles we were forming on the ground. I shook my head again when water dripped onto my eyes, wincing at the surprised cries that Ladybug and Adrien let out. I smiled at them sheepishly, scratching my cheek lightly. "Sorry...."

Ladybug glared half-heartedly, and Chat Noir and Master Fu looked amused. Master Fu looked over the three of us before humming. "Alright, you three. I'll get some towels and start some tea. Chat Noir, Ladybug, if you'd like, you can detransform so that you may be in dry clothes."

"Master Fu, sir, Ladybug doesn't know who we are and vice versa. Well, she knows me, but not Wolven." Adrien said softly, stepping away as Neeks caused me to shake like a dog again.

"Really?" He looked a bit surprised at that, glancing to Ladybug with a raised eyebrow. "I thought for sure that you would be alright with knowing after Adrien exposed himself."

Ladybug smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, I, uh, I have my suspicions, but... I don't want to put anyone in danger by-"

"Ladybug, if I may, Hawkmoth is gone now, and it's not like your identities are going to be going public just yet. It will do you no harm, and the three of you can protect yourselves without worry." He said, before turning away to get towels. "Talk it over while I'm gone. We'll talk about how to handle this Chinday when I return."

He walked away, then, and we fell into silence. I sighed softly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Okay, well, since you said you had your suspicions, I'll tell you who I am." I said, giving Ladybug a moment to refuse if she wanted to. After a moment she sighed as well.

"Alright.... Master Fu was right. We'll be fine." She said the last part quietly, probably in an attempt to reassure herself.

I smiled comfortingly at her, and playfully gave her a bow. "It's nice to officially meet you, Ladybug.  My name is Jasper Wells." Ladybug gasped, a hand going to her mouth as she stared with wide eyes. I laughed, straightening from my bow.

"I knew it." She said softly, lowering her hand before detransforming. In her place stood Marinette, dressed in her pajamas, and Adrien and I exchanged smiles.

"Nice to see you, Marinette." Adrien said, and Marinette blushed lightly, laughing nervously.

"Hi... You guys knew?"

I shrugged as Adrien also released his transformation, both of them dry except for their hair. "We had some suspicions."

"You have the same face and voice. Once Jasper and I figured out each other's identities, it was kind of easy to figure it all out. And we all ended up disappearing around the same time whenever an Akuma appeared." Adrien explained, shrugging slightly as he smiled. "to be honest, if Jasper hadn't figured it all out first, I don't think either of us who have known our civilian forms."

"Still..." She was quiet for a moment, before she smirked at me. "So, that's what you sound like."

I laughed shyly, grinning at her. "What? Not what you expected?"

She hummed, tapping a finger to her chin. "No, but I like it. If you could talk, boys and girls would be falling at your feet."

I laughed slightly, shifting my weight from one side to the other. "Uh-huh, sure, if my eyes didn't scare people off. But my heart belongs to Adrien." Adrien blushed at that, smiling and ruffling my hair.

Marinette smiled, laughing a little. "That's so cute!"

"Marinette, I still don't know about this. His kwami is really dangerous!" A small kwami that looked like a ladybug explained, making Plagg scoff.

"Oh, please, Tikki! We've been through this before, _Neeks_ isn't bad! Just like us, he's had chosen that made bad choices." Plagg defended, stressing his name like he was trying to hint at it or something.

The ladybug Kwami, Tikki, frowned- a feature that didn't sit well on her face. "Oh, he's going by Neeks now? Has he told Jasper _anything_?" She snapped, making me frown.

"What are you talking about? And, yeah, he's told me some-" I cut off, Neeks canceling the transformation and flying over to Plagg and Tikki, grabbing their arms and zipping away.

"Kwami meeting, now!" He said, panicked, right before they disappeared around the corner. The three of us stared at where they had been, and I blinked a few times before pouting. Seriously? I was having a conversation with them, Neeks!

"Oh, wow, Jasper you really are still soaked." Adrien said, a little panicked. I looked down at his words, seeing how my sleeping clothes were soaked to the bone, before panicking when I realized my scars were clearly visible. I covered my throat lightly with my hand, looking away, and Adrien frowned, pulling my close to him even though I was soaked to the bone.

Marinette looked guilty, rubbing the back of her neck. "I am _so_ sorry, Jasper! Tikki's not normally like that!"

I motioned her over, holding out my hand for her to place in mine. She walked over, placing her hand in mine. I pulled it a little closer to me, before using my other hand to carefully trace, "It's alright." On her hand.

Marinette frowned, looking at me again. "It shouldn't be."

I smiled at her, shrugging before shivering a little. Adrien frowned, pulling me a little closer. "Ah, good. It looks like everyone knows who everyone is." Master Fu said, returning with plenty of towels. I was given most of them, silently thanking him before starting to dry off the best I could. Adrien and Marinette dried off as well, while Master Fu gave our kwamis little washcloths to use in order to dry off, frowning when he came back.

"I'll get your kwamis to cut the conversation short so that you can become more comfortable, Jasper. Now, come with me to the living room, and we can talk about this Chinday over some tea."

"That sounds perfect, Master Fu." Adrien said softly, taking my hand and leading me to the living room with Marinette. A few minutes after Master Fu left to talk to the kwamis, Neeks came flying in, looking guilty.

"Sorry, Jasper..." He said softly, floating up for a hug. I sighed, giving him a hug before grabbing him by his scruff and holding him in front of me so that I could scold him a bit more properly.

"Don't do that again." I mouthed sternly, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry... I won't, I promise." He said, and I gave him a nod. After he sulked for another moment, he transformed me again, and I sighed, looking to Marinette and her kwami.

"Okay, I propose that your kwami and mine stay away from each other unless necessary." I said after a moment, and Marinette nodded in agreement.

"Agreed."

Plagg scoffed, settling himself on Adrien's shoulder. "Tikki's just bitter about the first and last time she met Neeks."

"His chosen was _killing_ people!"

"It was _war!_ "

"Now is not the time!" Wayzz snapped, flying from his hiding spot and glaring at the two. "Leave your personal feelings _out_ of this argument, and focus on the task at hand. Tikki, you know that each kwami must keep secrets from their chosen that must be given time to reveal- especially Neeks. That means you must let him explain on his own terms."

"But-!"

"Enough! It is not your story to tell!" Wayzz glared at Tikki, and she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Um, do I get a say...?" I asked hesitantly, and Wayzz looked at me sadly.

"I'm sorry, Jasper, but you need to hear everything from Neeks and Neeks alone. Whether or not you'll be ready to hear it is something only time will tell."

I pouted, but left it at that, shaking my head after a moment. "Alright, fine. Now, how do we handle our very current, very dangerous situation?"

As if on cue, a lightning strike crackled next to Master Fu's home, thunder rumbling a second later.

"Uh-oh." Said Marinette, glancing outside. "Whatever the plan, we need to hurry and do it. The streets are filling with too much water, way too fast to be normal."

"How do we even _find_ it?" Adrien asked, biting his lip lightly. He kept me close, helping me warm up as we thought about what to do. I cuddled into his side, thinking to myself about how to find the Akuma when we were trying to dodge lightning as I enjoyed his body heat.

Master Fu hummed slightly as he poured tea into cups. "I believe it is hiding in the clouds." He said, handing each of us a cup. I gladly took mine, sipping it and sighing happily from the warmth it gave me. I leaned a bit more against Adrien, and he wrapped an arm around me, rubbing it gently in an attempt to warm me up.

"That makes sense, but how do we get it _down_? None of us can fly."

"Jasper, I believe you will be able to jump above the clouds if you combine the right animal with your boots, and when you find the Chinday, you may grab it and have enough gravitational pull to bring it down with you so that Ladybug may wrap her yoyo around its wings to keep it from flying again. Hopefully her yoyo will not break." Master Fu said softly, gaze going back and forth from each of us.

"What if it doesn't have wings?" Adrien asked, and Master Fu hummed in thought.

"I'm afraid we might just have to hope it has wings. If it doesn't then Jasper might have to keep bringing it down while you and Marinette try to grab its life source."

"That's a really shaky plan..." I said softly, and Marinette sighed, biting her lip.

"But it's all we have, and if these keeps going, Paris might flood or something just as bad." She said, glancing outside. All of us jumped as another loud thunder clap roared over the house, and I shivered again, my hand going to my throat and rubbing it lightly.

"We stay away from the Eiffel tower at all costs- it's a big metal lightning rod right now, and I don't want any of us to get electrocuted, thank you very much."

"Yeah, that would be a real zinger." Adrien murmured, and I lightly slapped his hand, pouting at him.

"No puns about possible death, please." I said softly, and Adrien smiled softly, nuzzling me.

"Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"No need to be sorry." I hummed, smiling. "I like your puns. It just wasn't the best time."

Marinette playfully rolled her eyes. "Geez, you two are so lovey-dovey it's almost sickening. Focus on the topic at hand, boys!"

We laughed, smiling a little. "Oh, come on, Mari- you would be the exact same way with him, if not worse." I said teasingly, making her blush. Master Fu chuckled, glancing outside as lightning streaked across the side.

"I apologize for cutting this short, but that storm is still raging, and you three need to do your job." He said softly, and we nodded, standing. Adrien and Marinette transformed, and the three of us quickly left Master Fu's home. We all flinched the moment we stepped outside, the wall of  rain soaking us from head to toe immediately and the howling wind assaulting us. The rain had caused the water on the streets to rise, and now it was a steady layer of Water, all along the streets. I placed my hands over my ears again in an attempt to block the wind.

"Where should we try first?" I shouted, trying to see through my hair as it whipped around in my eyes.

"How about the houses over there?" Ladybug pointed towards the houses across the street, and I nodded.

"Okay!"

We ran over to the houses, jumping up to the top of them and situating ourselves safely on the wet stone. "Okay, what animal jumps the highest?"

"A flea!" Chat shouted, his hands covering his own animal ears. "It jumps over 200 times it's own length- Do you think you'll reach?!"

I looked up at the sky, wincing as lighting streaked across it right above where we were, and thunder clapped almost immediately after. "With the help of my boots? Hopefully!" I smiled nervously at him, before activating my power.

"Arcessere: Flea!" I didn't feel any different after activating my power, but I was sure there was something different. I took a deep breath, waited for another lightning strike to pass, and jumped with both my power and my boots. I gasped as I went a _lot_ higher than I thought I would, feeling the static in the clouds as I passed through them.

"Okay... Okay, I'm okay..." I said softly to myself, gulping as I looked around for any sign of a Chinday while slowly stopping as the momentum disappeared. It was scarily quiet up above the clouds, the early morning sunlight shining. It was very disorienting.

I saw nothing out of the ordinary, but as I started to fall again, I panicked.

'We did _not_ think this plan through.' I realized as gravity took hold and I began to pick up speed while I fell through the clouds.

"Neeks..?" I asked anxiously, yelping as lightning cracked right by me.

 _You'll be okay! I'll make sure you land on your feet!_ He said reassuringly, and my body twisted a certain way as Neeks used our connection to keep me safe, and I found myself falling on all fours.

"This still doesn't seem right!" I shouted, closing my eyes instinctively.

_Just trust me!_

I yelped as I slammed into something, suddenly stopping my fall and making my abdomen ache from the contact. I opened my eyes to see Adrien looking at me, holding me in his arms. "You okay?"

"Can we _please_ not do that again if we have a choice?" I asked, voice shaking as I clung to him in an attempt to steady myself when he set me back on my feet. "And are _you_ okay? I just slammed into your arms at who knows how many miles per hour."

Adrien smiled, rubbing his arms lightly. "Honestly? Nothing too bad. They're just a little sore."

"You sure you're okay?" Ladybug asked, and I nodded.

"I'll be fine. Just have to get my heart rate back under control." I looked to Ladybug, smiling sadly. "Sorry, but I didn't see it up there. I think we'll have to try again somewhere else."

"You sure you're okay with that?" She and Chat both asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I think I've got a few more of them in me before I _really_ don't want to do it again." I said, loud enough to be heard over the wind but not really shouting. I smiled playfully at Adrien, "If Chat manages to catch me, I think I'll be _purr_ fectly fine."

Adrien laughed, rolling his eyes and ruffling my hair. "As long as you're sure."

"I am. Now then, where should we try next?"

"The Louvre?" Chat suggested, and Ladybug and I nodded.

\---------

After a few more stomach-flipping tries, we finally had to risk being near the Eiffel Tower to look for the chinday. The storm was getting angrier, and I started to worry that something like a tornado was going to form. Adrien was showing concern over the fact that I continued to plummet towards the ground at high speeds, but he was always there to catch me, as painful as it was for the both of us.

"I don't want you guys waiting in the tower for me!" I shouted as we reached the base of the monument.

"What?! But what if I can't catch you in time?" Adrien yelled back, and I smiled nervously.

"It's safer down here! Besides, I trust you and Ladybug to catch me, and since this is the last place we've yet to check, I can use my powers to help cushion my landing- I hope." I laughed nervously, trying to ease his worries as I quickly waved and jumped to the top of the monument, jumping once more to get myself above the clouds. I looked around, smiling when I saw the chinday just a few paces away.

It was the color of a storm; dark black and grey swirling clouds around a grey-blue female body with eyes that shade of yellow you find painting the sky with promises of a tornado in your future.

I angled myself to land back on the tower, falling and jumping once more towards the direction of the chinday, narrowly missing a lightning strike and feeling my hair stand on end. Something told me she knew I was here.

My heart was pounding painfully in my chest as I grabbed the chinday, thankfully bringing her down with me. She screeched and cursed as we fell, the wind rushing past us. I twisted us around so that I was on top, digging my metal claws into her arms to keep her in place.

"Let go of me you disgusting brat!" She snarled, her voice booming like thunder. She was trying to shove me off her, tingles sparking wherever she touched. I could feel the small bits of electricity starting to build up in my body, causing my fingers to twitch and my muscles to seize slightly. My breathing hitched when I noticed how it felt so much like the beginning of the acid bubbling its way through my body.

I grit my teeth, wincing as the pounding torrents of rain and the loud wind came once again, and when we fell closer to the ground, I pushed off her waist, flipping over slightly as I made space between our bodies.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, now!" I shouted as loud as I could, feeling my throat go raw and hearing my voice crack. The chinday in my arms shouted in anger as Ladybug's yoyo wrapped tight around her, eyes flashing as electricity building around us before lashing out. I screamed in pain as electricity shot up my arms, before feeling a different kind of fear make my body seize, my hands burning and my blood feeling like it was bubbling. It _hurt_ , and it tingled and it made me think back to _that night_ and suddenly I _couldn't breathe_.

I grunted slightly as I was yanked from her body rather harshly, whimpering as I pulled my arms close as Adrien took me to the ground safely while Ladybug yanked the Chinday to the ground. He set me on my feet, gently taking one of my wrists in one hand and very lightly placing the other on my cheek as he stepped close so he didn't have to yell. He placed his forehead against mine, causing me to look at him. I whimpered again, trying to catch my breath, and Chat Noir gave me a gentle smile, silently telling me to follow his breathing as he took large, deep breaths.

Slowly, shakily, I began to copy him. A few minutes later, guilt overtook the fear and I tried to look back at the fight, tried to pull away so that I could help Ladybug, but Chat slowly shook his head. "She'll let us know when she needs help. You need to calm down first, sweetheart." He said as softly as he could, tone gentle, and I stopped trying to pull away.

"W-We should be fighting," I said shakily, fingers clenching and unclenching even though it hurt. It kept me grounded, reminded me that it wasn't acid, I was already better besides the burns, unlike the acid.

Adrien frowned, eyes glancing to my hands for a second before lifting one up so that he could place a brief kiss on the side, away from the bright red burn coating the palm. My heart raced once more as he looked back to me while doing it, first in embarrassment and then anger- but whether it was at myself or him, I wasn't sure. How was he so calm? We were supposed to be fighting! Instead, he was trying to calm me down from a _stupid_ problem that I wish I never had in the first place.

"It's okay, Wolven." Adrieb said as softly as he could, eyes focused on my hands as he looked at them, studying the burns.  "They aren't burned too badly. See? These'll heal right up with Ladybug's powers."

I looked down at my hands again, seeing how my palms were bright red, lightning patterns trailing up from parts and the center of my palms darker than the rest. My hands wouldn't stop shaking, but whether or not that was from mental exhaustion paired with adrenaline and pain, or the electricity still coursing through my body, I wasn't sure. My necklace charms beeped twice, and I felt Adrien's breath hitch.

"You're down two stripes in one go." He said softly, and I swallowed with some difficulty. I had definitely reached my limit for today, and when he glanced up at me again his concern shone in his eyes. "Do you want to sit the rest out?"

"I-I need to help you, don't I?" I said weakly, flinching as thunder rumbled and lightning cracked as it struck the ground beside us.

"You've done enough, Jaspie." He assured softly, voice nearly lost in the rain and smiling gently even though his eyes were concerned. "You're the one who found the chinday and brought her here."

I opened my mouth to deny that, but Adrien gave me a quick peck on the lips before running off to the fight, using his staff as a weapon. I stood where he had left me, heart still pounding as my ears drooped and I watched them fight. I felt _useless_ just standing here, but I was too scared to get close to the chinday again.

"Neeks... Is there anything I can do from here?"

Neeks hummed in understanding, mentally feeling me it was alright to be scared. Chat and Ladybug were going back and forth, trying not to get caught in the chinday's winds or lightning while trying to snag the bracelet from her wrist.

_I think so. You need to warn those two to cover their ears, and change your power to... I think bat is the correct one._

"Bat?"

_Bat. I believe I can alter the bat's supersonic capabilities to become like that one hero with the sound abilities? Only this one time, however. After that, it would be normal echolocation._

"...I see." I was admittedly a bit stunned by this revelation. I shook it off after a moment though, and prepared myself for the strain my throat was about to go through for all of this.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir!" I shouted, and the two glanced at me from where I stood. "You two need to cover your ears after I activate my power again!"

They looked confused, but nodded. The chinday's eyes slid over to me, and she snarled.

"That's where you went!" She snapped, voice echoing as she turned towards me. I yelped as lightning struck the ground beside me, stumbling away.

"Arcessere: Bat!" I shouted, turning and starting to run as the chinday's attention zeroed in on me. Oh, man, this was bad.

I turned, snarling at her and jumping out of the way whenever lightning struck too close to me. I took a deep breath and screamed, although instead of a normal scream it was higher in frequency and grew until we couldn't physically hear it anymore, echoing out over the area. Chat and Ladybug covered their ears, but the chinday screamed, hands covering her ears moments too late. The almost constant tornados around her wrists extinguished, and Ladybug lunged forward, snatching the bracelet from her wrist with a snap from the metal as it gave way under the force.

Marinette jumped back, her hair also starting to frizz slightly from static, and took hold of the lightning design in the metal, snapping it in half with scary ease. The chinday screamed in pain, screeching and cursing in that loud, booming voice of hers as she melted into a black and purple fog before slowly turning white and disappearing into the air. Almost immediately, the rain and wind disappeared along with the clouds, leaving bright early morning sunshine and a disturbing amount of silence in its wake.

I walked over to the others, water sloshing around my feet from the inches that had built up and shivering from the chill that had set into my bones at some point. Adrien and Marinette didn't look much better, and they both looked unnerved by the drastic change in weather. "That wasn't a fun one." I rasped, and they nodded, Adrien walking over to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders while the other went to my hands.

"Your palms look like they really hurt.... And your throat doesn't sound like it'll last much longer." He said softly, looking at me with concern. I smiled weakly and shrugged.

"To be honest, my hands don't really hurt anymore, and I'll be fine after downing some tea with honey and a couple of cough drops."

Chat's worry didn't abate, but he nodded, kissing my knuckles softly before looking to Ladybug. "Your miraculous healing powers would come in handy right about now, miladybug. Do you think it'll fix the flooding?"

"Well, it has before." She hummed, tapping her chin. "But that was with Akuma caused by Hawkmoth."

"Yes, but Hawkmoth was probably supposed to be a good guy, right? Which means Ladybug's power should work for things not caused by Akuma." I pointed out, coughing softly afterwards. I frowned slightly when I swallowed, feeling like something slick was lining it. If my throat's wounds had reopened or something, I was already beginning to turn annoyed. Nothing was going right for me today, apparently, and it wasn't even that late!

Ladybug looked thoughtful, smiling slightly. "Well, it's worth a shot." She grinned, grabbing her yoyo and tossing it into the air. At first, nothing happened as it spun in the air, but then a flurry of magic ladybugs came from it, swarming over Paris as it undid the damage from the chinday. Some came over to me, wrapping around my hands and getting rid of the burns. I smiled, opening and closing my hands into loose fists as I admired the efficiency of Ladybug's powers.

The three of us burst into laughs, high-giving each other. "Alright!"

My necklace beeped again, and I looked at it, biting my lip. "We should head home. Our parent's are going to flip out if we don't turn up soon."

"Do you want to come over to my place first? You shouldn't go home soaking wet like that." Adrien asked softly, and I smiled, reaching up to pat his cheek lightly.

"Don't worry, love. I'll be just fine." I said, leaning up to gently peck his lips. Adrien returned the small kiss with one of his own, smiling gently.

"Alright. I'll take you home then- try to help explain where you were, in case they called my place. Is that okay?"

"That sounds wonderful, Chat. Hopefully your dad will help us out..." He smiled happily, taking me hand in his. We waved goodbye to Marinette, and ran off in the direction of my house.

"Yeah, hopefully." He said softly, biting his lip as we went to my home. "I don't know if he's okay with that, though. I mean, he didn't know you were staying over, or that you are Wolven, so I don't know..." I hummed slightly, coughing a little afterwards.

We made it to an alley near my house and detransformed. I nearly gagged when I was back to my civilian form, my throat hurting more that usual and the slick feeling disappearing for the most part. I coughed, covering my mouth with my hand, and Adrien rubbed my back, holding me close. He was damp from the rain, his suit having kept him mostly dry, but I was still soaked to the bone and cold.

"....Maybe we should go to my place instead, and you can text your mom that you're okay while I get you dried off."

I shook my head, smiling at him as Neeks flew to sit on my shoulder. "Mitzi's going to be really scared and mad that Jasper didn't respond earlier, though." He said softly, ears drooping. "I think it'd be smart to see her... Although Adrien might be right- Jasper, your clothes and phone are still in Adrien's place. Maybe if we're lucky we could say something like the phone lines were down!"

"That wouldn't work if she could call my house, though." Adrien said softly, biting his lip. I tapped Adrien's arm, catching his full attention, and pointed to my mouth before mouthing, "We're already by my place." I motioned towards my home, smiling gently, and Adrien sighed.

"Alright," He conceded, "We'll go to your place and hope for the best."

"Just say he slipped and fell in a puddle, and that whoever answered the phone at Adrien's home didn't know you were there." Plagg suggested with a roll of his eyes.

"They can't do that, Plagg! All the rain is gone, and a puddle wouldn't get Jasper _this_ wet!" Neeks said with a small bite to his words, although whether there was actually heat behind it I don't know.

I sneezed, which led to a coughing fit and Adrien frowned, already starting to usher me towards home. "Well, no matter what, it's time for you to get home. You're going to get sick at this rate!"

Neeks and Plagg hid themselves away, and I smiled at Adrien apologetically. He smiled as well, expression fond as he sighed. "No, don't apologize. None of this was your fault."

"Jasper! Adrien!"

Our attention snapped to where the call of our names came from, and I gulped, nervous, at the sight of my _very_ furious mom standing in the doorway.


	8. Lazy Day

"Get in here, _now_!" Mom snapped, pointing into the house and looking furious even though her appearance was disheveled. Adrien and I quickly did as told, and I found myself unable to meet her eyes.

Mom closed the door once we were inside, and then she began yelling.

"How dare you not answer my texts messages in the middle of a storm like that! Do you have any _idea_ how worried I was?!" She snapped, leaning close to me and causing me to lean back. I smiled apologetically, nervous.

"Sorry..." I mouthed. "My phone died."

Mom growled in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air as she turned around towards the door. "You _know_ to bring your charger with you! That should not have happened, Jasper! You know better!" I looked down, ashamed. She turned back around, motioning frantically at my body as she tried to find proper words. "And look at- at this! You're _soaked_! Did you go outside when the Chinday was attacking?!"

"Um, actually-"

"Not now, Adrien!" Mom snapped, making Adrien flinch and shrink back. He didn't look scared, but he sure as heck looked embarrassed. I glanced back up at my mom, who continued shouting and ranting about how she couldn't get a hold of me and that I could have gotten hurt.

"And you!" She pointed to Adrien, who visibly gulped. "If his phone was dead, you should have had him use your phone!"

"We didn't want to disturb you if you were busy..." Adrien said softly, and Mom nearly screeched as she threw her face into her hands, her hair covering her face.

"Boys! You are so much smarter than this, come _on_!!!"

"Sorry Mitzy..." Adrien apologized and I held out my arms, offering her a hug.

"No! No hug, Jasper!" I dropped my arms, letting mom get out her anger. Mom screamed in frustration into her hands again, crouching a little as she did. Her hands tugged at her hair as she stomped on the ground. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Astrid, who looked relieved to see Adrien and I.

"Nice to see you guys are safe and sound." She said softly. "I'll get you some towels." She walked over, ruffling my hair before heading towards the bathroom. She looked just as disheveled as my mom, and I momentarily wondered where Noel was.

Mom let out her anger a bit more in a much quieter way, mumbling into her hands. I think I caught, "This boy is going to be the death of me," before she finally took a deep breath and straightened, brushing her hair from her face. "Okay..." She breathed. "Okay, I'm okay now. You're safe, that's all that matters." She said softly, taking another deep breath. She looked at us again, and a second later she was hugging us tightly.

"Thank goodness you two are okay... Never worry me like this again!"

"Sorry, Mitzy." Adrien said again, honest, while I traced a sad face onto Mom's back with my finger in apology.

Astrid came back then, handling me a towel before handing one to Adrien. "Jasper, sweetheart, I think you should take a warm shower and get dressed." She said, smiling sweetly at me. "I'll make you boys something warm to drink. Mitzy, love, can you come with me?"

Mom sighed, studying the two of us once more before nodding and following Astrid into the kitchen. It was quiet for a while, before Adrien sighed, smiling weakly at me as he used one of his hands to rub the back of his neck and placed the other on one of his hips. "Well.... That went better than expected...."

I nodded, still a little surprised at how angry mom had sounded and yet she had done very little. Adrien wrapped an arm lightly around my waist, leading me to the bathroom. "Hurry and take a shower, you're freezing. I'll get you some clean clothes before stopping by my house to let my dad know where I'll be and get my phone." He said softly, and once again I nodded, smiling at him before closing the bathroom door when he was outside.

I sighed, stripping of my wet clothes and turning the shower on to an almost scalding temperature so that steam could fill the room with warmth and I wouldn't be too cold out from under the water. Neeks flew to the counter, sitting down on it. His ears were flat against his head, and he looked really guilty. "Are your hands okay, Jasper?" He asked softly, and I nodded, running a brush through my hair carefully as I waited for the water to warm up.

He was quiet for a while again, and soon a he let out a small whine. "Jasper, I-I know there is a lot of stuff that you don't know, and I really want to tell you everything, but- but I'm so scared you'll hate me and- and I just... You aren't ready to hear everything... But you're in such terrible situations and I just-"

I silently sighed dramatically, cutting him off, and placed a hand on my forehead and looking at the ceiling for a moment before looking at Neeks again. I lightly poked his chest, smiling gently before I mouthed, "It's alright. Tell me when you think it's the time. Tikki was mean to you no matter what her reasons, and you don't owe me anything." Neeks whined softly again, but nodded, looking down. I gave him a small pat on the head and climbed into the shower, sighing happily as the hot water warmed me up.

When I got out of the shower, I smiled when I saw clothes neatly folded on the sink, the smile growing bigger when I saw a fuzzy sweater as the top. It was one of my more worn sweaters, a few holes starting to form in various areas, and it was a bit big on me but it was a very pretty red and it was crazy warm, so I gladly slipped it on, pulling on my jeans soon after. I ran a brush through my hair again after vigorously drying it with my towel, and hung my wet clothes over the side of the bathtub. Neeks hid himself in my scarf after I wrapped it around my neck, and I left the bathroom, stopping by my room to get my notebook.

Adrien smiled when I walked into the living room, dressed in a pair of my sweatpants and another one of my bigger sweaters- although it wasn't as big on him.

"I really hope those are comfortable and not too tight." I wrote, and Adrien laughed.

"They are perfect, silly." He said softly, and I smiled, settling myself next to him on the couch. He had pulled Netflix up on the tv and was flicking through the tv shows we had been watching, quietly debating which one we should continue. Mom popped out of the kitchen with two mugs in her hands, and she set them beside us.

"Alright, boys, here's some hot chocolate. You know, you're lucky school was cancelled today because of the chinday attack." She lightly flicked our foreheads, smiling fondly at us as we rubbed where she flicked. "Otherwise you two would be catching a cold right about now!"

"Where's Noel, Mom?" I asked, and her smiled faded for a moment.

"He ran off to check on Evangelique the moment the storm ended. He was so scared the babysitter hadn't stayed, and Eva had been crying for him when the storm was going on when he called to check on them."

"Is she okay?" Adrien asked, worried, and mom nodded.

"Yep. He called a few minutes ago, said everything was alright and Eva got to have one of those very rare mornings where she gets ice cream for breakfast. He's taking her to work as we speak."

Adrien and I both sighed in relief at that, and I faintly heard Neeks mutter how lucky she was. I forced myself not to roll my eyes, smiling a bit.

"Do you and Madam Gosier want to watch a movie with us?" Adrien asked, motioning to the tv. Mom smiled sweetly and shook her head, declining.

"Thank you, sweetheart, but I have to start sketching out my next painting and Astrid has to go to work. Thank you for the offer, though." Mom ruffled his hair before heading towards her bedroom, where Astrid was already heading.

Adrien nodded, sighing softly when they left, and I hummed the best I could, gently taking the remote from his loose grip and flipping through the shows. Eventually we decided on Dawn of the Croods, since we couldn't watch the actual movie. I picked up my hot chocolate, taking a small sip.

Astrid came out of mom's room a few minutes later, dressed more neatly and in a business suit. Her hair was brushed and pulled into a low side pony tail, and an overnight bag was in her hands. Mom followed soon after, dressed more casually in a simple light green t-shirt and boot-cut jeans. Mom pecked her on the lips as Astrid opened the door, exchanging a soft "goodbye". As Astrid left, she blew a kiss towards Adrien and I, and we waved goodbye.

"Good luck at work!" Adrien called, Astrid giving a small shout of acknowledgement as she finished closing the door and strode towards her car in a hurry. Mom sighed softly, watching her go almost like a love-struck teenager. I bit my lip, holding in a small snicker.

After a moment, Mom walked to her studio, pulling her hair up into a messy bun as she passed. "Have fun today, boys- Oh, Adrien, you might want to call your dad and let him know you're here."

"Will do, ma'am." Adrien said dutifully, already pulling out his phone since it was ringing. He answered the call, putting it on speaker when he saw that it was Alya. "Hey, Alya, what's-"

"Is Jasper with you?" She asked, cutting Adrien off. Adrien hesitated slightly before answering, and we both regretted it immediately.

"ARE YOU AND JASPER TRYING TO GIVE EVERYONE A HEART ATTACK?!" Alya shouted, making Adrien and I both jump while Mom cackled joyously from her studio. I glared childishly in that direction and Adrien laughed nervously, clearing his throat a little before responding.

"Sorry, Alya, we were just-"

"Don't 'Sorry, Alya' me, Mister! I have been attempting to contact you for hours! HOURS! That storm could have caused serious damage, you two should have contacted us, _somehow_!"

"We know, Alya, but we were kind of busy and didn't have the chance to talk to you."

Alya groaned loudly in frustration. " _What_ in the _world_ did you and Jasper have to do at five freaking thirty in the- actually, no, I don't want to know."

Adrien and I both turned red and her insinuation of what she thought we had been doing, but we made no move to correct her since it was getting her off the topic at hand. "I swear, you two and Marinette just love to go completely off the grid with us during Chinday attacks!" She huffed in annoyance, going silent for a moment.

"Sorry, Alya." Adrien said softly in the silence, and Alya groaned again.

"Oh, whatever... I know that's just how you three are. Just try and contact Nino and I from now on, please? You know we worry." Well, that just made me feel guilty, and judging by Adrien's expression, him, too.

"Sorry. We'll try to be better about it, promise. I'll call Nino and let him know we're alright." Adrien promised, and after conversing with Alya just a little longer, ended the call. He then went to his contacts and called Nino, who did basically the same thing Alya did. At the end, we were definitely feeling guilty.

"Guess we should text them we're alright before we transform, huh?" I wrote, and Adrien nodded.

"Yeah, no kidding." He sighed, wrapping an arm lightly around my waist as I cuddled into his side. "Too bad we can't tell them, huh?" He asked softly, leaning in close to whisper it in my ear so mom didn't have the possibility to overhear. I nodded, fiddling with the edge of the page.

"I wonder if we can tell them after the danger is gone?" Adrien looked contemplative as he finished reading what I wrote.

"I sure hope so.... I hope we can keep the miraculous too, though. I can't imagine my life without Plagg anymore."

"Same here.... Master Fu got to keep his- I think we'll be okay."  Adrien nodded, and we went back to watching Netflix.

\------

Later that day, Adrien had to leave for a photoshoot. He groaned softly when his bodyguard honked the car's horn, reluctantly getting up. "If I can't come back after the photoshoot, I'll see you tonight." He said softly, giving me a quick kiss as he stood up. I stood up as well, walking with him to the door as I gave him a small nod in confirmation.

I waved goodbye as he rushed to the car, smiling slightly when he drove off before sighing and closing the door. Already, the house felt much more empty without Adrien around to keep me company, since Angel wasn't here. Neeks flew from his hiding spot after a moment, settling himself on my shoulder. I wandered to my room, pulling out a few pieces of candy for him before grabbing my writing notebook and going back to the living room to start writing.

Mom came out of her studio about a half hour later, yawning loudly as she did and stretching. Neeks hid himself under my hair, burying himself very lightly into my scarf. "Ah, man, I want to sleep." She sighed, plopping herself on the couch next to me and resting her head on my shoulder. She read over what I was writing and hummed, nodding a bit.

"You write real well, Jasper. You try putting anything online yet?" I shook my head, and mom laughed softly. "Well, you should. You could earn some money for it, I'm sure." After a moment she got up, stretching again as she changed the topic. "Now then, I need some more coffee after last night, and I'm hungry. Would you like to eat here, or go find a nice little café to eat at?" She asked, turning to face me. I closed my writing notebook, thinking it over.

"Let's eat here," I decided after a minute, and she nodded, smiling.

"Alrighty then. I was thinking pasta? I found a recipe I'd like to try." Mom hummed, walking to the kitchen. I got up, following her and nodding in agreement to the food choice. Her smile brightened, and she clapped lightly. "Great! I'll pull it up on my phone."

\-------

Adrien wasn't able to come back until we were supposed to be in bed. I was tired enough that I didn't notice he was in my room until I felt him slide into my bed beside me, Neeks having let him into the room since he heard him knock. I blinked sleep from my eyes, rolling over and burying my face in his chest. Adrien sighed softly, pulling me close and resting his chin on the top of my head.

"I wish you could come with me to photo shoots." He said softly, "It'd be so much nicer  there." I smiled, lightly patting his back. "I know you can't come... I know. But you'd keep me from being bored, and Vincent likes when you're around. He said I smile more." I chuckled softly, and felt Adrien smile as well.

"He'd probably end up using you as an extra." He mused, running his hand through my hair. I lightly tapped his back, looking up at him and pouting. He laughed softly, green eyes nearly glowing in the dark. "Okay, okay. I'll go to sleep now. Night." He kissed my cheek, making himself comfortable beside me, and together we fell asleep.


	9. Spoonful of Sugar

The next morning when I woke up, I knew right away that today was not going to be a fun day as my head throbbed painfully as I opened my eyes, my throat sore and completely painful as I swallowed. I lifted my head just enough to look over to where Adrien had been laying. He had already gone home, but a note was where he had been. I brought my hand out from under the covers to grab it, and squinted to read it properly through sleep-blurred eyes.

_Jasper,_   
_I went back home already since Dad didn't know I was gone and he was going to make Nathalie wake me up earlier than normal today for a photoshoot that's taking place before school. You felt a little feverish and looked like you were in pain, so I want to ask you to stay home today if you're sick- I don't want you to pass out at school! I'll visit you later this afternoon, okay?_   
_~Adrien_

I smiled at the short note, moving to sit up. I swallowed again, shuddering from the feeling of pins and needles in my throat, and coughed harshly a moment later, which only made my throat hurt more. Neeks flew over from his small pillow, his paw going up to my forehead after brushing away my hair. He clicked his tongue, shaking it. "Adrien was right, you are warm." He said softly as I pulled off my comforter and sheets while moving to get out of bed.

"Ah! No, no, no! You are not allowed to leave bed!" Neeks scolded, lightly pushing me back down. It barely did anything to me, but he kept doing it so I humored him. I groaned softly in annoyance, looking at Neeks with pleading eyes. I pointed to my desk, where all my candies and cough drops laid. Neeks understood, nodding and flying over to the cough drop bowl. He grabbed a few candies and flew back over, dropping them into my hand as I stifled another cough. I unwrapped one and put it in my mouth, looking towards the door when it opened.

"Jasper, you feeling okay, baby? I hear you coughing from outside." Mom asked, peeking inside the room. I waved my hand in a 'so-so' gesture, and she frowned, walking over. She sat on the edge of my bed and placed her hand on my forehead. "It feels like you have a fever, but I'll get the thermometer just in case. Does your throat hurt?" I nodded in response.

Mom smiled sadly, lightly patting my cheek. "I'll get you some crushed ice to suck on as well, then. Be right back." She stood up, leaving the room to go get what she said she would. Neeks popped out from behind my shoulder again, settling himself on my knees.

He looked up at me sadly, ears pressed flat against his head and tail between his legs. "Does your tummy hurt?" He asked softly. I smiling slightly and shook my head, starting to pet him.

"I think it's just a fever and really sore throat." I mouthed, and he nodded a bit, hugging my finger before crawling under my shirt to stay close but hide from my mom as she came back in. I gladly took the cup of crushed ice she handed me, putting some in my mouth as she got the thermometer ready.

"Which side did you sleep on?" She asked with a small sigh, and I tilted my head to the side I didn't sleep on for her so she could brush my hair from my ear, placing the tip of the thermometer in it and clicking the button.

"See, Jasper, this is why you shouldn't have gotten soaking wet yesterday." Mom scolded as she waited for it to beep. "I know it wasn't an accident you got so soaking wet." When the thermometer beeped she checked the digital reader, sighing. "104 degrees Fahrenheit. Looks like your staying home today, mister!" She patted my knee, smiling slightly. "But, just in case, let me check the other side, too."

I tilted my head to the other side, and mom did the same thing as before. When it beeped she checked and nodded. "Yep, you're staying. I'll go call the school." I gave her a thumbs up and settled back into my bed, although I simply stared at the ceiling while sucking on the cough drop and ice in my mouth. Neeks curled himself up on my stomach after putting in the extra effort to crawl under my shirt, a cold and welcome presence in contrast to the heat I hadn't noticed until ice was in my mouth. I grabbed my phone after a few minutes, hearing mom talking to the school out in the hallway and smelling something nice coming from the kitchen. It made my stomach rumble a bit, and Neeks giggled a little.

"That tickled." He said with a chuckle, and I tapped him on the head, frowning slightly. He simply laughed more, and I silently huffed before texting my friends that I wouldn't be in school today. They promised to get me my course work to bring me after school, and I wondered if they were all going to come over at the same time or just find Adrien and give it to him for when he comes by later.

Mom came in after a few minutes, a small plate with buttered toast and a mug in her hands. "I've got some soup cooking away for if you get hungry later, and this tea should help your throat feel better." I smiled gratefully at mom, and she smiled, setting the mug beside the glass of crushed ice and handing me the plate. She opened the hand that had the mug in it open the rest of the way and I saw she had an Advil in it. "Here, take this, okay? It should help bring down the fever enough you won't wake up ever two hours and not be able to go back to sleep." I nodded, taking the medicine and washing it down with a small sip of the tea.

"Just text me if you need something, and I'll make sure Angel doesn't bother you after Noel drops her off, okay sweetheart?" I nodded, giving mom the "ok" sign with my hand. She ruffled my hair, kissed my forehead, and left the room after a few minutes so that she could get to work, leaving Neeks and I in my room. I sighed softly before starting on the piece of toast in front of me, smiling at the taste of honey mixed with the butter.

"Hey, Jasper?" I petted Neeks in response, letting him know I heard, "Why don't you watch videos on your phone? It might help you go to sleep more easily, and it'll keep us both entertained."

I nodded, even though he was currently unable to see it, and went onto the YouTube app for my phone, finding something to watch and letting it play.  
\---------  
I smiled when Adrien knocked on the door before walking in, sitting up in my bed and hugging him as he came over. "It's nice to see you, too, Jasper." He said softly, kissing the top of my head. "Do you feel any better?" I nodded after a moment, moving back from the hug. Adrien sat beside me, brushing hair from my face.

"You still feel like you have a fever." Adrien frowned, before moving to be beside me and wrapping his arms around me tightly. "Need me to help sweat it out?"

I blushed and bumped shoulders with him, hiding my face in my hands. Adrien laughed and nuzzled my cheek, smiling. "Okay, okay. I'll stop embarrassing you now."

I grabbed my phone, starting to type in it. "Thank you." I typed, showing him for a moment before starting to type again. "Does your dad know you're here? He seems like the type who wouldn't let you near a sick person, if he could help it."

Adrien shrugged, looking a little sheepish. "Well, if you want to be technical about it, he doesn't know I'm here, and Nathalie doesn't know you're sick, so..."

I frowned, poking his arm. He pouted, trying to give me puppy dog eyes. "Aw, come on, Jaspie! I wasn't going to stay away and miss out on seeing you just because you caught a cold! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did that?"

"A smart one?" I typed, showing him. Adrien huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away from the phone. I tried to hide my grin behind my phone, giggling slightly before coughing into the crook of my arm away from him. He rubbed my back when I accidentally let a small whine escape, pulling me a little closer.

"Does your throat hurt?" He asked softly, and I nodded. "I think I have something that might help..." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a stick of honey. I smiled, taking the offered treat. "Vincent gave a bunch of these to me at the photoshoot this morning. Haven't really figured out how to properly bite into them to get the honey, but they're really nice to have." He said with a shy smile, I nuzzled him in thanks and looked for the seam of the plastic casing, motioning for him to watch as I brought it to my mouth and tapped the casing against one of my canines before biting on the seam with the canine as the focal point. It made a small crack-pop-like noise, and Adrien hummed, smiling. "That makes sense." He said with a small laugh, taking out his own and doing what I just did.

"Oh, Neeks, do you want one, too?" Adrien asked, pulling out another, and I raised an eyebrow at him as I slowly sucked out the honey from my own. Neeks popped his head out from the collar of my shirt, eyes sparkling happily.

"I can have one?!" Adrien laughed at his excitement, nodding.

"It's why I brought three." He said with a smile, and Neeks whined happily, flying over and taking it carefully in his paws before nuzzling Adrien's cheek.

"Thank you Adrien!" He said happily, licking the blond's cheek before flying over to his bed-pillow and biting into the small treat happily.

"How many of these do you have?" I typed, and Adrien laughed again, shrugging.

"Vincent gave me about two euros worth." I nodded after a moment, finishing off the treat and instead idly chewing on the plastic casing.

After a few minutes of cuddling with Adrien, I typed on my phone again, showing him the message when I was done. "Seriously though, Adrien, your dad will kill you if you get sick."

Adrien groaned in exasperation, falling back onto the bed with his hands covering his face. I grinned smugly.  
\---------  
That night was not a good night for me, needless to say. Since mom and I had assumed I was already past the worst of the fever, we didn't bother with having me take Advil before bed, and now I kept slipping in and out of sleep due to the fever or chills.

Now was one such time.

I curled up tighter in bed, trying to keep my body as warm as possible. I was already under two blankets, the bedspread, and the regular sheets, but the area that wasn't touched by my body was freezing, and only made the chill I was feeling worse. I whined pitifully to myself in my head, pulling the sheets over my head and curling tightly into a ball. I just wanted to go back to sleep, why was if so hard to get warm enough to do that?

I yawned, blinking my eyes as they burned from the fever and shivering almost violently as I tried to find a comfortable position to retain the warmth around me. I rolled over, shivering more as a cold part of the sheets draped themselves over my leg and I whimpered softly, coughing harshly a moment later.

I vaguely heard Neeks shift around as I continued trying to keep myself warm, tossing and turning restlessly. Neeks shushed me softly, paws momentarily touching my face before disappearing a moment later.

I saw a large shape in the darkness of my room, heard it shake so hard its ears slapped against its head before crawling closer to the top of my bed and soon shifting around to burrow itself under my covers. I felt soft fur against my side and the sudden onslaught of body heat I was craving for, and sighed in relief, pressing closer before falling into sleep.


	10. Lady and the "Tramp"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a picture that goes with this chapter, but I won't be able to add it in until later. Keep an eye out!
> 
> Update: Link is now at the bottom of the chapter!

A few months passed. Spring started to make its way into summer, Freshman year was coming to a close, and the anniversary to Hawkmoth's defeat, as well as the start of my relationship with Adrien, was coming closer with each day. The chindays continued to attack often, but even Anamaqkiu seemed to have her limits on time like Neeks and I did. She didn't spam us with attacks, like Hawkmoth would occasionally do, which was a blessing, in my eyes. Neeks, on the other hand, was as jittery as ever when it came to the American villain, but it did seem to die down the tiniest bit when spring came.

Since school was getting closer to finals, homework and clubs were starting to slow down just enough to let you know the end was nearing, and it allowed enough of a time gap that Alya, Nino, Marinette, Adrien and I were all able to hang out together Friday afternoon.

"Man, how long has it been since the five of us hung out together?" Nino asked with a fond smile as we made our way down the sidewalk, arm over Alya's shoulders. Alya hummed, tapping her chin.

"It's been, what? Less than a month? We all went to the zoo during Spring Break, after all." She said with a grin.

"Well, however long it's been, I'm glad we're all together now! I missed it!" Marinette said with a grin, walking on the other side of Adrien. I nodded in agreement, smiling. We were all going to my place since it was closest, and the girls wanted to see Evangelique, since they haven't seen her in twice as long.

A loud squeal greeted the five of us when I opened the door to my home, and I exchanged glances with the others before heading inside with them. The sound of feet pounding against the wood barely registered to us before Nino let out a grunt as a small body barreled into him, nearly causing him to fall over. "Hi Nino!" Evangelique shouted, before letting go of the boy and tackle the girls next. "Hi Alya! Hi Marinette!" She hugged them tightly, and the three laughed and returned her greeting.

"Man, Evangelique! You've gotten even bigger!" Evangelique grinned at Nino's words, smiling a smile full of toothless gaps.

"I'm gonna be tall like you when I get older!" She said proudly, stretching her arms up and balancing on one foot as she spoke. "I drink all my milk!"

"Good girl." Nino laughed softly as he ruffled her hair, and Angel's grin grew before she ran over to Marinette and Alya, grabbing their hands and bouncing up and down as she asked them her question.

"Mari! Can you and Alya help me pick out MiMi's outfit for tonight?" She asked, giving the girls puppy dog eyes. "Daddy's taking her dancing!"

"Just Mitzi?" Alya asked, and Evangelique pouted, nodding.

"Mommy wasn't able to make it tonight 'cause of a client, so he's taking MiMi out tonight and Mommy out on Sunday!"

Mari nodded in understanding and smiled. "Well then, shall Alya and I help make her look twice as stunning?"

Eva grinned again and giggled excitedly, bouncing up and down again. "Yay!"

Alya laughed, looking over her shoulder at Nino, Adrien, and I as she and Mari were pulled towards mom's bedroom. "We'll be back soon, boys! Get the movies and popcorn started without us!"

"You sure?" Adrien asked, an amused smile on his face, and Alya nodded, shooing us towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah! Go ahead!" We all laughed at her insistence, and I led Nino and Adrien to the living room.

"Well, let's save the better movies for when the girls can watch with us." Nino suggested, going to the DVDs and looking through them. I nodded in agreement, turning on the tv and going to the kitchen to get the snacks set up.

\-----------

A few hours later, and the five of us were situated across the couch, chairs, and floor of the living room as we watched older kids movies, including Mickey Mouse's House of Villains, The Iron Giant, and a variety of others. Right now, we were watching KiKi's Delivery Service, and I kept smiling every time GiGi spoke, thinking of Plagg every time. Judging by Adrien's knowing smirk, he was thinking the same.

The doorbell ringing is what caused me to leave my surprisingly comfortable spot laying on the floor with my legs on the couch cuddled beside Adrien, who was doing the same thing. I kicked my legs out, using the momentum to roll over and stand up. I gave the others a "one moment" sign and went to the door, opening it for Noel, who was standing there in a semi-formal outfit with his hair slicked back.

"Hi, Jasper." He said happily, walking in when I motioned him inside. "Is your mom ready to go...?"

I shrugged, not knowing, but a moment later it was answered as Evangelique came running out from Mom's room grinning and giggling. "She'll be out in a few minutes, Daddy!" She shouted, and the others paused the movie in the living room, peeking out from around the corner. Alya and Marinette looked excited, while Adrien and Nino were just curious.

"Okay, Angel. Have you been behaving for Jasper and Mitzi?" Noel asked with a small laugh, picking up his daughter and wrapping her legs around his waist. Angel nodded, grinning excitedly. Noel also waved to the others, and they waved back.

"So Noel, where are you taking Mitzi tonight?" Nino asked after a moment, and Noel smiled shyly.

"Uh, well, I was going to take her for dinner and then to either my dance studio or Rétro Dancing. Depends on how many people are there tonight- I don't want her to get overwhelmed or anything." I smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"She'll really like that."  I wrote, and Noel let out a relieved sigh.

"Oh, good. I haven't had the chance to take her dancing yet, so I wasn't sure...."

"Yes, well, you're lucky our family has always rather enjoyed the arts." Mom's voice cut in, and Noel's eyes widened before his cheeks turned bright red. I grinned, looking over to Mom as Adrien and Nino let out their own sounds of approval.

Mom was dressed in a simple sleeveless light blue dress that cut off just above her knees, the skirt a darker blue than the top and spotted here and there with sparkles. She had on white flats and had silver and blue jewelry on her arms and around her neck, the bulk of her now straight hair held back with a shiny black headband to cascade down her back like a waterfall while the shorter, still wavy strands framed her face. I was a little surprised she wasn't wearing any makeup aside from a light coating of pink lip gloss, but I thought mom looked very pretty, nonetheless, and was actually glad she didn't put on much makeup tonight (not that she wore much to begin with). It made her look prettier.

"You look great, Mitzi!" Nino said happily, and mom smiled, thanking him. Noel set Angel down and walked over, taking her hand and giving it a small kiss.

"You're even more beautiful than usual, tonight." He said softly, just loud enough for us to overhear. I grabbed Angel, ushering everyone back into the living room as Noel and Mom had a moment, and a few seconds later mom popped her head around the corner, cheeks dusted pink.

"Alright kids, I'll be home late tonight. You can stay as long as you like, but make sure to go bed a bit reasonably, and put Eva to bed at her bedtime?"

We gave mom various sounds and signs of confirmation, told her and Noel to have fun, and they waved one last time before leaving us to our own devices.

Slowly, everyone had to leave and go home for the evening, until Evangelique was the only company left, so we started watching random Netflix shows until she fell asleep around 8.

"She's a cutie, ain't she?" Neeks hummed as I tucked her into the guest bed we moved upstairs for when it wasn't being used. I nodded, smiling at him and handing him another piece of candy. "Looks a lot like her father, too. Wonder if she'll grow up to be like him?"

"I'm aiming for someone more like Alya, actually." I wrote, and he laughed, nodding.

"Yes, she does seem a bit more like Alya, huh?" Neeks rested on top of my head, nuzzling it. "Either way, she'll be great. I hope we get to see it."

"Me too." I agreed, turning off the lights everywhere else in the house and walking to my bedroom. I looked at the bed, once again remembering the strange fever dream from after the storm chinday, and I frowned. It still felt like it was too real to be a dream, but what else could it have been? Neeks said it wasn't him somehow- although he did seem like he was hiding something, and Adrien wasn't the source, either.

I shook my head, telling myself to ignore it and getting dressed in pajamas. I climbed into bed and continued talking to Neeks until I grew tired.

* * *

  
[The Adults (Dance Date Night)](http://cancersufferer.deviantart.com/art/The-Adults-Dance-Date-Night-675319972)


	11. Bombs of Easter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter, everybody (even if you don't celebrate it) :) also! This chapter has a small dedication to TeddyMamBear on Wattpad since they came up with a scene that happens further in the chapter ;) Enjoy! This chapter also has a picture... Still figuring out how to get them up here (stupid source image requirements)  
> Update: Picture is now up in a link to the tumblr post!

 

"Wolven, duck!" I did as Ladybug shouted, dropping where I stood and narrowly missing one of those _stupid_ egg bombs this Easter Bunny knockoff was tossing everywhere, hearing it explode as it landed further away. I snarled at the Chinday, who simply laughed as it tossed another lightly in its paw.

"Aw, is the big bad wolf afraid of the Easter Bunny?" The Chinday asked, voice somehow gravely and squeaky at the same time. "You haven't even managed to touch me!"

"Well if you would just stop throwing those every five seconds!" I snapped, making it laugh again as it grabbed the colored egg in its hand and started to pull back its hand to throw it. It stopped short as it tried to throw it, though, as Ladybug's yoyo wrapped around its wrist and kept it pulled back.

Chat Noir snuck behind the Chinday, baton lifted to try and smack it across the head and stun it. The Chinday's ear twitched and it looked to Ladybug. It growled and made the egg disappear, its clawed paw grabbing her yo-yo's string and tugging on it hard enough to lift Ladybug off her feet. It spun around, using Ladybug as a wrecking ball and knocking her into Chat, who let out a startled yelp as they collided and were sent flying into a nearby tree. I forced myself not to cringe, instead using the moment to attack.

I lunged forward, claws swiping at the Chinday's chest and trying to use my dancing abilities to my advantage in moving back faster. I was too slow however, and let out a choked sound as the Chinday's claws sunk into my shoulder and slammed me into the ground. I heard Adrien shout my name along with Marinette, but I was frozen to the spot by the menacing green eyes baring into me, and the feeling of warm, wet blood starting to bead onto my skin from around the claws of the chinday.

Neeks let out panicked sounds in my head and made my body start thrashing, trying to get my feet to connect with the chinday's body and send them launching. I snapped out of my frozen state at this, snarling and swiping the metal claws I had at its chest.

"Get off me!" I snarled, and the bunny Chinday simply laughed, curling its paw and making the claws dig in further. I grunted from the pain, biting my lip hard enough to bleed. I gasped in surprise as the Chinday was ripped away from me and Chat took its place, having kicked it away.

"Are you okay, Wolfy?" He asked breathlessly as I sighed in relief before placing my hand over my bleeding shoulder.

"Just fine, Kitkat." I smiled at him, taking his offered hand and standing up as he pulled me up. "Now then, shall we?"

Chat smirked at that, laughing happily. "Oh, we shall, alright." I grinned in return, and we looked over to the Chinday, who was being cornered by Ladybug, now that her yoyo was able to wrap around it properly and pinned it's arms to its sides.

"It's in the basket in his left hand! One of the eggs!" She shouted, and I exchanged a glance with Chat.

"On the count of three; your cataclysm with my claws?"

"Sounds good to me."

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!" We ran for the Chinday, and it screamed as Adrien's hand make contact with the egg while my claws went through its chest, colorful sludge pouring from the wounds like blood. A moment later, it crumbled to the ground, wisps of black and purple coming from the body until it disappeared completely.

Ladybug sighed, pulling her yoyo back into place to do the cleansing thing she does as I relaxed. Chat immediately started fretting over my shoulder, moving the vest and shirt of my outfit away to see the claw marks. "Oh, those look bad." Chat whimpered, and I smiled, patting his shoulder gently.

"It's okay, love. I'm sure they'll be healed with her power." I assured softly, but he just pouted.

"That doesn't make it any better! What if they don't heal?" He asked softly, and I ruffled his hair.

"We'll figure it out if it comes to that, okay?" Chat's pout didn't disappear but he nodded, and a few seconds later the swarm of magical ladybugs wrapped around my shoulder and healed the wound. I smiled at Chat, who sighed heavily in relief and rested his head on my shoulder carefully. "Wolven....!" He whined, "You seriously need to stop getting yourself hurt! What if they stop healing with Ladybug's power?!"

I laughed softly, running my hand through his hair. "Sorry, Chat.... I'll be better about it in the future."

"You better be." Ladybug huffed as she walked over, an amused smile on her face. "Wolven, I get you take following your instincts a little too literally because of your powers, but please, have at least a little sense of self preservation?" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and looking away.

"Shut up... Not entirely my fault."

Chat sighed, ruffling my hair. "We know, we know. We just worry."

I smiled, nuzzling him. "I know. I promise I'll try not to get hurt as often."

Chat's ring beeped, causing my wolf ears to perk up from the sound. "Oh, shoot. We should actually get going! School's still in session!"

At that, Ladybug and Chat both tensed, and we all ran back to the school, detransforming when we were a safe distance away from prying eyes. We ran into the building from one of the back doors and split up to head to class as the bell to change classes went off. I sighed softly, reaching up to pet Neeks through the folds of my scarf.

\---------

A few days later, I was on patrol with Adrien and Marinette, making sure no one was lost or in need of help. I talked to any police officers in the area and even some people. It wasn't super busy on the streets today, but there seemed to be a bit more tourists around that usual, given all the stares I could feel on my back. I learned a while ago, that while Ladybug, Chat Noir, and I were known in other parts of the world, we weren't really... Taken seriously?

Like, no one really believed it all because the idea of people turning into monsters, or just monsters in general, was that they were all make believe, along with superheroes. I was fine with that opinion, but it always made it odd to feel eyes staring at me on patrol now, when the tourists who weren't yet used to us found out with a rather big shock that, yep. We're real.

"Um, excuse me." I turned at the sound of a girl's voice, seeing a girl around my age walk up. "You're Wolven, right?"

I nodded, smiling at her. "Yep! Do you need something?" I asked, wondering why she came up.

"Not really, no. I just..." She trailed off for a moment, as if trying to figure out what to say as she brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. "I was just wondering, are those wolf ears real?"

I reached up to feel one of the ears in question and laugh a little. "Yeah, actually. Chat Noir's ears are fake, though, sadly. They'd be great if they were real." I smiled brightly, imagining how Chat would look with real cat ears and how soft they'd be. The girl's lips twitched slightly, but her smile didn't disappear.

"You know, a wolf's my favorite animal."

"Really? What kind of wolf?" I asked curiously, and the girl giggled, eyes glancing up to my ears.

"Well, what wolf are you?" She asked with a grin, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"An albino, most likely." I said with a laugh. "I think I was supposed to be a gray wolf, but, well." I motioned to my hair and eyes, making the girl laugh even more before biting her lip and glancing up at me after looking at the ground.

"Can I feel your ears? They look super soft." She asked sweetly, but before I could respond someone else did for me.

"Sorry, but you can't." My smile grew and I turned to look at the owner of the voice, seeing Chat jump down from the nearby terrace and walk over before wrapping his arms around me in a hug.

"Kitkat!" I said happily, gladly letting him hug me and leaning back against him a bit. "I met a tourist." I looked back at the girl when I remembered something rather important. "Oh yeah, what's your name?"

Chat laughed, rolling his eyes playfully. "Yeah, I can see that." He said with a hum, although his smile looked slightly strained as he looked to the girl, who looked a little less excited.

"My name's Melanie." She said happily to me, before she looked at Adrien again. "Why can't I touch his ears, huh? They're his ears, not yours."

"Cause only I can touch his ears." He responded a little grumpily, and I nodded in agreement, explaining to Melanie.

"I'm not a huge fan of people doing it, and he's a special case."

Melanie blinked in surprise for a moment, before she leaned a bit closer, smiling again and pointing to herself while winking like she was telling a secret. Chat tensed, arms tightening around me as she spoke. "Well, can't I be a special case?"

 

"He said no." Chat said defensively, voice close to hissing. I looked up at him, a little surprised. His hair was starting to stand on end, his tail flicking around angrily behind him. He actually looked like a cat that was about to start hissing. I looked back at the girl and then it clicked.

"Sorry, Melanie, but I'm not going to make you an exception."

Melanie pouted, deflating a little bit. "Why not?" She asked sadly, a small whine to her voice. "Why is he an exception?"

" 'Cause Chat's my boyfriend." I stated simply, as if it was obvious. Melanie's face turned bright red and Chat smiled, nuzzling me.

"I thought that was just a rumor?!" She shouted, and another girl laughed softly, coming over and placing a hand on Melanie's shoulder.

"I told you, Mel. Your charms wouldn't work on him." The girl said, before looking at us apologetically. "Sorry about my sister. She likes to think she can woo any man she sets her eyes on. I tried to tell her you were already taken, but..."

"Aw, it's fine. She didn't know. I hope you two have fun here in Paris, anyway. It's a nice city." I said happily, and the girl responded with a thanks and another apology before leading her shell shocked sister away. When they were out of earshot I leaned against Chat, biting my lip. "Wonder what would have happened if I told her I wasn't into girls?"

Chat laughed, smiling brightly. "The poor girl would have combusted, probably." He kissed my cheek, pouting a moment later. "By the way, Wolfy, why didn't you stop her earlier?"

I laughed weakly at that, rubbing the back of my head. "Oh, uh, I didn't actually notice until you started getting defensive."

Chat's eyes widened, staring at me in shock before he groaned a few moments later. "Wolfy....!"

"Sorry.... I won't let it happen again, Mr. I'm-Jealous-Hear-Me-Hiss." I poked his forehead as he blushed, smiling as I slipped from his hold and started down the street. "Now then, shall we head back?"

"I wasn't going to hiss!" He defended, and I smirked, turning to face him.

"Uh-huh, sure you weren't." I said seriously, nodding. Chat's cheeks flushed an even darker red, and he started to run after me in order to catch up.

"I wasn't!"

"Keep telling yourself that!" I told him with a laugh, turning and starting to run as well, making him give chase. I heard him laugh.

"Wolven!"

* * *

 

[Wolven and Chat Noir/Tourist scene](https://timetoshine16.tumblr.com/post/159657902229/scene-from-without-the-mask-chat-noir-gets)


	12. Falling Into the Black

After patrol, Adrien and I wandered around town together, having a little time to ourselves. Plagg was hungry, so he had to detransform, but there were so few people out now that I could stay Wolven, and we could just enjoy being together.

I hummed as I walked along the top of the railing of one of the many bridges across the Siene, arms outstretched to my sides for balance as my tail flicked behind me. "Everybody wants to be a cat." I sang softly, making Adrien laugh from behind me. "Because a cat's the only cat," I turned around and scratched beneath Adrien's chin as I sang the next part, grinning all the while. "Who knows where it's at."

Adrien let out a subconscious purr, blushing a moment later before jumping onto the bridge. I laughed, grabbing his hand and continuing to walk with him. "Everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat," My grin widened as Adrien joined in, " 'cause everything else is obsolete."

Adrien grabbed my waist and helped me down, even though I didn't need it, and he continued to sing the song. "Now a square with a horn, can make you wish you weren't born," He took my hands, spinning me around a little and making me laugh. "Ever'time he plays; and with a square in the act, he can set music back to the caveman days."

My smile grew, continuing the song. "I've heard some corny birds who tried to sing," At that, I motioned faintly to where one might where the peacock miraculous, winking as well as I continued, "But a cat's the only cat who knows how to swing."

"Actually, I have no idea how to swing dance." Adrien said with a laugh, and I let out a scandalized gasp.

"What?! No!" I asked, moving a little closer. When Adrien nodded, I gasped again, grinning and entwining my fingers with his. "Luckily, _I_ do!"

"I hope you can teach me one day." Adrien nuzzled his nose against mine, and I giggled.

"I'll make sure of it. Just you wait, before the year is over, you'll know how to square dance. Maybe Noel can teach you, too!" I placed a brief kiss to Adrien's lops, making him blush lightly and laugh.

"How many types of dance does he know?"

"Three or four- maybe more. He focused on ballet, though." Adrien nodded in understanding, smiling slightly and reaching up to momentarily play with my ears. I whined happily, leaning into the touch.

"What did you focus on?" I flushed darkly, clearing my throat slightly, and Adrien grinned, raising an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Uh... I really liked square dancing and clogging for folk dances." I mumbled, smiling shyly as I looked down in embarrassment. Before Adrien could comment about it, though, I continued to speak. "I guess I focused more on freestyle, though? I just really liked moving to a beat and feeling the movements. I studied a lot of dance styles but don't know how to actually dance quite a few of them."

"What else do you know how to dance?" Adrien asked, and I grinned at him happily, laughing a little.

"Okay, well, let's see.... I know Ballroom, swing, square dance, clogging, freestyle, and interpretive. Ballroom's a little rusty, though. I never finished those lessons. Same with square dance, really." Adrien hummed, looking impressed when I glanced up at him, and I tried not to become shy around him again.

"You'll have to show me sometime." Adrien said happily, and I nodded, draping my arms over his shoulders and smiling up at him.

"Sure thing." I said with a small hum, leaning up to once more peck his lips. "But for now... We should get Plagg some food and go home. It's getting late, and your dad'll kill me if he sees you sleep deprived."

Adrien laughed, shaking his head and sighing fondly. "Alright, alright. We'll go home. But can I stay at your place tonight?" At his question, I hummed, tapping my chin in thought and trying to hide my smile when Adrien pouted.

"I don't see why not. But be quiet, mom won't know you're there."

Adrien's face immediately lit up, reminding me of an excited puppy, and I laughed softly, nuzzling him once more before taking his hand and leading him back to my place. When we got inside my room, I detransformed as well, grinning at Adrien before going over to my dresser. I pulled out the spare set of pajamas Adrien left here for nights like this and tossed it to him before pulling out my own.

\--------

Nino hummed, tapping his finger to his chin as he studied Adrien and I with a stern gaze. I tapped my fingers against my notebook nervously, and Adrien smiled as nonchalantly as he could, rubbing the back of his neck. After a few minutes Nino sighed, turning to Alya. "I mean, yeah, I can see it, Alya, but-"

Alya groaned, throwing her hands into the air. "Why is there _always_ a but?!" She shouted in exasperation to the sky before pouting at Nino, Adrien, and I. "Come on guys! Even _you_ can't deny you two look a lot like them!" She said, motioning to Adrien and me. I looked up for a moment as if to think, before looking to Adrien for a few moments and then turning to Alya. I offered her a shrug and Adrien sighed softly.

"Alya, we won't deny the resemblance is..." He paused, trying to think of a safe word to use. "Frightening. But I have literally _no_ time to be a superhero, and Jasper..."

"I can't talk." I showed via my notebook, and Alya's pout grew.

"But if Ladybug and Chat Noir's masks are stuck to their faces by magic, doesn't that mean by extension it's the same for Wolven?" She asked, and I shrugged again. "Well what if that same magic could, like, help you talk or something?!"

"Pretty sure it doesn't work that way, Alya." Nino said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Also, Wolven had a blue eye, too."

"Okay, fine." Alya sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest. "But I really-"

"What made you start obsessing over this again, Alya?" Adrien interrupted hesitantly, and Alya looked at him, eyes sparking with fervor.

"If we can find out who they are, maybe we can- I don't know- maybe we can help them find connections with Anamaqkiu or something." Alya smirked at Adrien then, "To be clear, I never stopped stopped obsessing over this. But I think I got a lead this time!"

"What kind of a lead?" Nino asked, and Alya grinned, holding a finger to her lips and winking at the three of us. "That, my boys, is a secret." Adrien and I exchanged worried glances.

Nino sighed, looking a little exasperated with Alya even though his gaze was fond. "Well, your guess this time are a _million_ times better than when you thought _Chloe_ was Ladybug."

Alya flushed darkly at that, embarrassment radiating off her in waves.  "Oh shut up!" Nino, Adrien and I laughed softly, and she playfully shoved Nino.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch hour, and we started towards our classes, Adrien and I going one way and Alya and Nino in the other. Adrien sighed heavily when we were a safe distance away. "Oh man, that was close."

I nodded in agreement, biting my lip worriedly. Neeks let out a squeak then, and he poked his head up from his hiding place. "There's a Chinday attacking somewhere." He said quietly, and I looked to Adrien, who nodded. We went to the nearest bathroom and locked the door, transforming and quickly leaving the room through the window after unlocking the door again.

"Do we have any idea where it is?" Chat Noir asked, and I shrugged helplessly.

"I have no idea. Neeks can just sense them being made, he can't sense where they are." As soon as I said that, though, something grabbed my leg and yanked me down, causing me to yelp before I was shrouded in darkness. "What the heck?!" I kicked at whatever was grabbing my leg, shivering from the chill of wherever I was. I stomped next to the caught foot hard, and felt something collapse underneath it, a loud hiss escaping something before whatever held my foot retreated.

The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. I could sense something here with me, but I couldn't see it at all, the Chinday blending into the pure darkness around me.

"The wolf's new chosen...." Something hissed from behind me, sending shivers down my back. "You are most unusual." I yelped as something wrapped around my waist and lifted me up, unsheathing my metal claws and trying to stab the dark black tendril wrapping around me like a boa constrictor. It roared in pain,  a loud snake-like hiss escaping it. However, instead of letting go like I thought it would, it only lifted me higher. "He swore to never again have a chosen.... And yet here you are." I shuddered as something breathed on the back of my neck, and I swung at it, an animalistic snarl leaving my lips.

"And you smell much more like death than the others ever did..."  I  shuddered, feeling a forked tongue flick against my ear.

"Let go of me!" I snapped, jamming my claws into the darkness around my chest to their hilt. The Chinday screeched in pain, dropping me. I yelped as I fell, the sensation not stopping until suddenly I was flipped around and blinded by light. I let out a grunt as my back hit something solid, and found myself upside down, staring at the sky through the gaps in my legs and tail.

"Wolven!" A familiar voice shouted, and Alya came into my view a few moments later, her phone in her hands. "Where did you come from?!" She asked, and I rolled onto my side, flipping onto my hands and knees. "I mean, you just fell out of the wall of the building!"

"The Chinday is some sort of shadow creature." I explained, scrambling to my feet. My metal claws were dripping the black goo that seemed to make up most Chindays blood, and Alya looked a little fascinated by it, as well as a little sick. "Alya, please, do you know where Chat and Ladybug are?!"

She nodded quickly, grabbing my wrist and starting to pull me along. "They found the source of the Chinday while looking for you. It's a big shadow mass in Père Lachaise Cemetery." She looked behind herself to me. "You've been missing for hours. Chat Noir's been in a panic."

"Hours?!" I shouted, shocked. "I was only there for a few minutes- wasn't I?" Alya shrugged helplessly, and I bit my lip. Not good. Not good at all. Adrien and Mom must be so worried.

"Why haven't they destroyed it yet?"

"They were worried you'd be trapped wherever you had gone if they did, and they still can't find the source of- Wolven!" At Alya's shout I looked down, seeing a black hand trying to grab me from my shadow like it had before. I snarled and stomped on it, hearing a terrible hissing screech once more as the wrist was crushed under my boot. I shivered from the feeling, switching around who was holding who and starting to run with Alya following after me.

"Alya, I need you to do me a huge favor!"

"Yeah?"

"I have no idea where we are- I need you to give me directions to the cemetery." I risked a glance at Alya when she was quiet for an unusual amount of time, and her shocked expression turned into a grin. She nodded, and I smiled. "Then hold on! You're about to join me for a ride!" I said, turning and sweeping her off her feet into my arms without missing a beat and activating the jumping mechanism in my books to jump into the air and onto the nearest building. Alya yelped, holding onto my tightly as she tried to record on her phone at the same time.

"Ladybug! If you're watching, I found Wolven! We're on our way over there now!"

I smiled at Alya, who grinned in return, and she looked around before pointing to the left. "That way!" I nodded, jumping easily from roof to roof.

"How well do you know the area?" I asked, and Alya looked at me curiously.

"Pretty well, I guess. Why?"

I smirked, showing off the fangs Neeks gave me. "Cause we're going to go fast."


	13. Garden of Shadows

Alya let out a short scream as I activated my power and we started running even faster, her arms tightening around my neck. I laughed softly, giving her back a small pat. "Just trust me, okay? You'll be fine."

Alya gave a quick nod, pointing towards where we needed to go. "That way!"

I turned for that direction, making my boots activate and jumping over one of the buildings we were going past in an attempt to lose the Chiday. The metal plate on the back of one of my gloves flashed, and I looked down at it after moving my hand around to continue accommodating Alya.

"Alya, can you tap the plate for me? Someone's calling."

Alya nodded, tapping the flashing metal, and it turned on a video call, spanning across the plate. I smiled when I saw Ladybug, who looked immensely relieved.

"Thank goodness, you are back!"

"Sorry for vanishing, Milady." I apologized, smiling a little nervously. "That Chinday yanked me out from under my feet, quite literally."

"Why would it do that?"

"No idea. Where's Chat?"

Ladybug bit her lip, looking around herself before stomping down on the shadows beneath her feet. "I don't know. We split up to try and keep the Chinday focused on only one of us, and he hasn't tried to make contact with me yet."

"What?!" I shouted, although not as loud as I would have if I wasn't holding Alya. Adrien hadn't tried calling either of them yet since they split up? That didn't seem right. He would have called me the first chance he got once he found out I was safe. "Do you think he got caught?"

"I think it's a very real possibility!" Ladybug said worriedly, and I nodded, biting my lip. Alya pat my back reassuringly, before telling me where I needed to go next.

"Okay, well, I'm almost there! I'll keep an eye out for him!" I told her, and the call ended a moment later.

"Alya, do me a favor and keep an eye out for Chat Noir, okay?"

"Already on it!" I smiled, glad to have a friend that helped so much, even without being asked. I looked around, trying to find any sign of Adrien as Alya led me closer and closer to the cemetery.

When she pointed out the patch of land that marked the cemetery, I set her on her feet when we were on the ground. "Okay, I need you to stay here, where it's relatively safe. Can you do that, Alya?"

She nodded, starting to shoo me away as she stomped down on a shadow that was going for me. "Get going! I'll let you know if I see Chat Noir, I promise."

I grinned, hugging Alya for a brief moment. "You are so sweet! Thank you, Alya." I said happily, bounding off before giving her a chance to respond. I started calling for Chat Noir as I ran through the cemetery.

"Chat!!! Chat, where are you?!" I shouted, dancing out of the way of shadow tendrils lunging for me. They darkened considerably here, the trees, tomb stones, and other graves filling the cemetery giving them plenty of places to go.

As I passed by a rather big grave, something knocked me to the ground with a yelp, and I went tumbling down a hill with whatever it was.

When everything stopped spinning I was being straddled by whatever was on me, and I pushed against its shoulders before realizing just what had knocked into me.

I gasped, staring up at Adrien, who looked like he was still a bit disoriented. "Chat!"

Chat Noir blinked a few times before shaking his head a moment, grinning and laughing sheepishly as he looked at me. "Sorry about that, Wolven. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Are you okay?" I asked, and he nodded, smiling.

"I'm perfect, now that you're here." He said happily, nuzzling my neck and making me giggle in response.

"You sap." I laughed, sitting up with him before giving him a kiss on the tip of his nose. He purred in response, doing the same for me.

"You love it." He purred, and I rolled my eyes before nodding.

"Yeah, that's true. But we can continue this conversation after we beat the big shadow mass, okay?"

"Of course, my Vampire Prince." He said with a small chuckle before pulling me to my feet as he stood. I blushed at the nickname, biting my lip shyly.

"Oh shush. Help me figure out where the big mass of shadow is, please?"

Chat Noir smiled and held my hand, lacing our fingers together. "It's right this way. We should make sure Ladybug didn't get- woah!"

He stumbled back, pulling me back as well as Ladybug came flying out of a grave's shadow too fast for us to stop. We winced as she rolled into another one, before going over to her, grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet.

"Are you alright, Miladybug?" Chat asked worriedly as Ladybug shook her head to clear it.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Chat." She said after a moment, before looking at me. "She spit me out before I could really do anything. She's trying to find you again, apparently."

I laughed nervously, stomping down on another shadow hand. "Yeah, I figured. We need to get rid of this Chinday, fast. Before she does something like suck my mom into her shadows."

At that, both Ladybug and Chat's expressions grew worried, and they nodded. We all ran for the center of the cemetery, and I shivered as the temperature grew colder and colder while the area around us got darker. It was like everything was being wrapped and encased by the shadows, an ominous wind cutting through and forming the sounds of a creature moving.

Something beside us hissed, and from the corner of our eyes we saw a long, skinny shape slither past. We slowly moved to have out backs facing each other, keeping our guards up as we looked for the Chinday.

"So..." I started slowly, looking through the mass of darkness surrounding us, trying to find the slithering creature again. "Alya said you found the source... but have you guys found the center?"

"I'm afraid not."  Ladybug said calmly, her shoulders tense. "We've been trying to dodge it and find a way to get you back, then Chat got pulled in and I followed soon after we ended our call."

"Anyone have a guess at where it could be?" Chat asked, glancing at me. I shrugged helplessly in return, biting my lip.

"Probably in the center?"  I suggested, and Ladybug hummed slightly in thought.

"That's out best shot. But what-" She cut herself off as a long, menacing hissing filled the air around her, all of us tensing even further as we tried to find the Chinday through all the darkness.

" _Well, well...._ " The same voice from when I was pulled into the shadows hissed, a deep chuckle leaving its throat as another wall of cold air bore down on the three of us. " _The little wolf has friends."_   I shuddered, feeling scales run over my feet, and stepped back in time with Ladybug and Chat, creating an even tighter circle. The voice turned nearly fond as it echoed around us, " _Never thought I'd see the day."_

"What do you want?!" Ladybug snapped, and the snake Chinday laughed sweetly.

" _What do_ I _want?"_ It repeated, " _I don't want anything, not really. Not since that brat of a brother your dear wolf has killed my dear son."_   The curls of the snake crept further and further up, forcing the three of us to be completely back-to-back. Chat let out a low warning growl, and Neeks did much the same, a snarl creeping across my lips and the sound coming easily from me. Something felt wrong, though. He felt... scared. " _I just follow Anamaqkiu's wishes, as they happen to line up with my own necessities."_

"What do you mean, "He killed your son"? " Ladybug asked, voice taught, and Neeks caused a shudder to run down my spine as the Chinday started singing in a chilling voice.

" _Ma nau bo sho, O do zheem un,_

_Ogeem au wum, Onis sa waun,_

_Hee-Ub bub ub bub."_

"What language is that?" Chat asked softly, and I shrugged, not sure myself.

"I don't know, but if we wait for her to finish singing, we might be snake food!" I said softly, and the others nodded. "I'll distract her, you guys go after the center."

Before waiting for them to agree to the plan, I stabbed my claws into the snake body wrapping around us, causing the Chinday to shout out in pain. Her tail lashed out, and her coils loosened enough for all of us to break away from the center, Chat grabbing Ladybug's hand and pulling her towards the very center of the darkness.

The snake hissed, and after Neeks gave me his night vision, I could see the very clear form of the Chinday darting for the others. I growled, running over to her body and scraping my claws against her side. The snake hissed even louder, and the beady black eyes of the snake turned on me. She lunged for me, her jaw wide open as she tried to either swallow me whole or bite me. I yelped, twisting away and just barely missing her. The metal claws on my hands scratched her as I spun, grinning as she screeched in pain.

Although it hurt to listened to the pained shrieks the Chindays let out as we fought them, it was nice to know that I wasn't losing as badly as it felt like I was sometimes, and that I was actually doing some damage.

We continued on in this fashion for a while though, with her lashing out at me and I danced around her, creating trails of cuts along her body in retaliation. I had started laughing at some point, feeling like I was dancing in a performance  and enjoying the feeling of dancing around once again. I panted softly, my miraculous beeping twice as it lost a stripe. I wondered how much longer it would take Chat and Ladybug to find the center, though, worried I'd tired out by then.

"Woah!" I jumped back as she aimed for my ankles, carefully moving myself a safer distance away. She let out a dangerous hiss, rearing back to expose her full height. I had to crane my head back to see her, my ears flattening against my head slightly. I did not realize she was that big.

" _You little brat! You think just because you're special you can kill me a second time?!"_ She snarled, and I gulped slightly, a little nervous now. I grinned a moment later, though, as my ears picked up a small shout of excitement from where Chat and Ladybug had gone.

"I'm sorry, lady, you're mistaken." The snake Chinday reeled back, tongue lashing out angrily as she opened her maw to expose fangs dripping with black. " _I'm_ not the one getting rid of you."

The Chinday shrieked in anger, lunging forward again. I tried to move back, but something grabbed my leg, keeping me in place. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, and I yelped as she came over me before she disappeared with a screech, the darkness flashing bright white for a moment before returning to the late evening sunset washing over the graveyard.

At the sound of my necklace beeping once again, I blinked the spots from my vision, lowering my arms slowly.

"Wolven!" I looked in the direction Chat's voice had come from to see him and Ladybug running towards me, and I smiled, giving them a small wave before my legs suddenly gave out on me and I crashed to the ground. Chat gave a panicked yelp, and I held up my hand.

"I'm okay!" I shouted, voice lowering as they reached me, "I'm okay."

Chat hugged me tightly, nuzzling his face into my neck. "I'm so glad you are."

I smiled, hugging him back. Ladybug let out a mock gag followed by a small laugh. "You guys are so sweet its nearly sickening."

Chat pulled away, settling himself beside me instead, his arm wrapped around my waist as we laughed. "Like you would have been any better, Ladybug!" I teased, and her cheeks flushed bright pink.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Is everyone okay?!" Alya's voice rang out, and the three of us turned to where she was running over.

"Everyone's perfect, Alya!" We called, and she immediately looked relieved as she stopped in front of us.

"Thank goodness. Can I ask you guys some questions, then?" She asked, and I nodded along with Ladybug.

"Go right ahead, Alya."

So Alya began to ask questions about the Chinday, like she does every time. We told her all we could, and when the name of the Chinday came up, we were all prepared to say, "Feel free to give it one," When Neeks softly supplied a name.

"Noko." I said after a moment, causing the other three to look at me curiously. I smiled at them for a moment, before motioning to Alya's phone where all the data was. "The Chinday's name was Noko."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on twitter @MoMoTheDemigod (MoMo Cochran) for occasional updates about the story! I'm trying to make myself use it more, and figured I may as well give updates on my stories there!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr at timetoshine16, but I don't go there a lot lately.
> 
> Just thought I'd let you guys know!


	14. Before Things Changed

**Hey guys! This is no normal update- why? Well, A) Writer's Block is hitting me hard, and B) I have something I want to share with you!**

**So, someone said "The Noir X Tivachi ship is real", and that translates to Plagg X Neeks for me, so I drew some pictures for the pairing! (Though to be fair, their relationship in the book is not actually romantic but close friends or Platonic love) I will also have a little story for the VERY end of Without the Mask revolving around these two, seeing as it will have spoilers for Without the Mask itself. So, here's a little snippet of the story (can you figure out what's happening before the end of the actual story?)**

**Also tan-skinned Plagg is my favorite thing ever.**

 

"Come on, lighten up a bit!"

[](http://ibb.co/jsA2na)   
  


"Take a break, run away with me for the summer."

[](http://ibb.co/b8ga7a)   
  


"You're insufferable sometimes, you know that?"

[](http://ibb.co/nMqwDF)   
  


"In the dead of night, you went dark on me..."

[](http://ibb.co/eVm3tF)   
  


**I will probably add a bit more to here by the end of the week, so keep an eye out!**

**Follow me on Twitter @MoMoTheDemigod for faster updates for pictures.**


	15. Before Things Changed (Part 2)

**Okay, I'm gonna push through this writer's block and give you guys a chapter by the end of the week, I swear. Cause I have chapters that are too cute to leave unpublished any longer, and they need to be set up for delivery.**

**Anyway, here are a few more PlaggxNeeks pictures (I spent most of the day yesterday drawing(and tracing)and coloring them.) Also, all of these take place before the last photo in the first part.**

 

"Shh....It'll be okay.... It'll be okay..."

[](http://imgbb.com/)   
  


_No one told me, I was going to find you_

_Unexpected, what you did to my heart_

[ ](http://imgbb.com/)

 

"Haha, see, I told you this would be fun!"

(Laughing) "Where'd you learn to dance, you clumsy cat!"

[ ](http://imgbb.com/)

 

"Wait, what are— whoa!!! PLAGG!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't hear you over how far I'm dipping you!"

[ ](http://imgbb.com/)

 


	16. When to Tell

A few weeks later, and summer vacation started up full swing, which meant our entire group could _finally_ hang out together again.

"Man, it feels like years since we were all together," Nino commented with a grin as we all walked down the street towards the subway. I nodded in agreement, sticking close enough to Adrien's side our hands brushed occasionally. Adrien laughed softly at his words.

"At least we saw each other at least one during the school year."

"Yeah, no kidding." Marinette said with a smile, "If hadn't seen at least one of you all year, I think I'd have gone crazy."

"Was fashion class kicking your butt, Mari?" Alya teased, ruffling Marinette's hair playfully. "It was pretty early in the morning."

"No, fashion was fine. It was being stuck in a History class with _Chloe_ all year that nearly pushed me off the edge."

Nino and Alya groaned at that, although none of us were pleased with the thought of being stuck in a class with Chloe all year. "Is she _still_ after you and Jasper?" Ayla growled, and I shrugged. Honestly, it really wasn't as bad as it had been when we were in the same class, but Marinette let out a pitiful whine that had me stepping a bit closer and patting her back in comfort.

"I don't get how she hasn't realized she's no better than anyone else yet." Marinette grumbled.

"I'm still trying to figure out when she thought she was." Adrien supplied after a moment, causing Nino to step in.

"Can I just say I'm very glad you didn't turn out like her." He slung an arm over Adrien's shoulders, smiling at him. "Cause you are an awesome dude, and it'd be genuinely terrible to hate you."

Adrien laughed slightly, patting Nino's arm. "Thanks, Nino."

Nino grinned, before dropping his arm from around Adrien's shoulders and following the girls down the steps leading to the subway. Adrien and I followed him, and when we got down there we waiting for our train. "So what movie do you think we should watch?" Alya asked, and I shrugged before grabbing my notebook.

"I'm okay with anything." I wrote, showing the group.

"I hear Wonder Woman is pretty good." Adrien said with a hum, and the others nodded after a moment, Alya grinning in excitement.

"I wonder if Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Wolven have seen it yet."

"Probably not." Marinette said with a small laugh, making Adrien and I smile.

"Yeah, they've been pretty busy." I wrote, and Adrien started listing things off with Nino.

"Saving the world,"

"Going on interviews,"

"Civilian life,"

"Going on dates." Alya supplied with a grin and holding up her phone. On it was a picture from one of the outing Adrien and I would go on occasionally, and I was really hoping neither of us were blushing right now.

"Yes, well, they are a couple." Adrien said with a small laugh and a slightly nervous smile. I nodded quickly, hoping that twinkle in Alya's eyes wasn't because of us.

"Come on, you two. If these two can have a date and have only me take a picture of them, what's stopping you guys from going public?"

"In our personal lives? Chloe." I showed her, and she frowned, huffing.

"Why are you letting her bother you?"

"In my work life, it's all the publicity." Adrien continued with a small sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "You've seen some of the things magazines will write. I may not be as well know as others, but the people I care about can still get swept up in all of it- and who knows what would happen then."

"Yeah, remember when Adrien first came to school? The girls in other classes swarmed him for nearly the entire day before calming down- and we were lucky it was only that day." Nino said with a small sigh. Adrien chuckled nervously, and I patted his back.

"Imagine how they'd react to me dating someone."

Alya made a small noise of discomfort then, and she nodded. "I see what you mean. But you do know that there is always the option of doing it, don't you? We're here for you, and you two can push through whatever trouble media gives you."

I nodded, and Adrien smiled. "We know, don't worry. We'll go public, eventually."

Alya hummed, looking at us a bit suspiciously, before turning to face the train as it arrived. "Okay, sure. Whatever works for you." Marinette elbowed Alya in the ribs at that, giving her a slightly pointed look. Alya laughed weakly, smiling apologetically at us.

"Sorry, that came out harsher than I meant. I just.. Feel like you guys aren't telling the whole story. Sorry."

"No harm done." Adrien assured her with a smile, and I nodded in agreement.

The train came to a stop, and after all the people leaving got off, we moved to get on. Nino looked at us as we got on, grinning slightly. "To be honest, I'm surprised your dad wasn't in the list of reasons."

I laughed weakly and Adrien blushed lightly, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, well... We think he might already know."

"WHAT?!" The others shouted, and we turned to look at them. I hid my smile behind my notebook, and Adrien sprained an eyebrow at their shocked expressions.

"What do you mean 'He might already know'?!" Alya repeated, pulling Nino and Marinette fully into the train car.

 _Well for starters,_ I thought, _He knows his son is Chat Noir, and is dating Wolven, and chances are he knows Wolven is me with all those security cameras around his house. So he seems perfectly fine with it so far_.

"I mean, I spend the night at Jasper's house a lot, and out of all of you, he's the one I hang out with most... Chances are, he's noticed _something_." Adrien said after a moment, shrugging lightly. "So far it's been good."

I nodded in agreement, and the other three stared. "Oh my god, I never thought I'd witness the day." Alya murmured, before grinned and hugging us tightly. "I mean, not that your dad isn't accepting or getting better or anything, Adrien, but he's been so strict the majority of the time we knew you!"

Adrien laughed, patting her arm lightly. "No, I get it. I was surprised when I thought about it, too." I held up my hand as if to say, "Same here."

Marinette smiled and gave a small clap. "I'm glad everything's going well, then."

"Yeah, same." Nino said with a grin, tapping Alya on the shoulder and having her move away from us a bit. "To be honest, I was scared of his reaction most."

Adrien smiled, laughing a bit. "You and me both."

"Just remember boys, you are _assuming_ he knows. The matter shouldn't be dropped entirely." Marinette said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at us pointedly.

"Yes ma'am." Adrien and Nino said together, smiling brightly.

Alya and I laughed,  before Alya pulled up the movies list in her phone again. "Now then... What movie should we watch?" She said, holding up her phone with a smirk on her face.

\-----

"So, do you think we should tell your dad?" I asked, propping myself up on my ar, as I looked at him. We were on top of Adrien's roof, beside the dome compartment Adrien's dad has been using as Hawkmoth's base of operation. Adrien smiled, shrugging slightly.

"I don't know. I mean... What if actually telling him makes him upset?"

"Well, then he'll be upset." I sighed softly, leaning down and lightly kissing his forehead. "He'll get over it."

Adrien sighed, looking up at the sky. "Yeah, I guess so." He looked back at me, reaching up to take my wrist in his hand. "Hey, you're wearing the bracelet."

I laughed softly, nodding. "Yes, well, I _do_ wear it as Wolven whenever we aren't fighting." I teased, and Adrien rolled his eyes.

[ ](http://ibb.co/dfJOCk)

**Note: This picture was made when nearly everything was in storage and I couldn't trace the base I had properly. I apologize for how terrible Adrien looks.**

"I can't believe it's almost been a year." He whispered, running his thumb over the charms the bracelet held, hhis own glinting in the sun beside it. I hummed, cuddling a bit closer to him and carefully dropping our joined arms so I could drop mine over his chest.

"It's nearly been two since I met you." I smiled, and Adrien grinned, nodding.

"I gotta say, it just might have been the best day of my life." He commented, rolling over  and pushing me until I was on my back. I grinned up at him, scratching beneath his chin and eliciting a playful purr.

"You know, I might have to say it was for me, too." I hummed, wrapping my arms around his neck. Adrien smiled, and he leaned down to kiss me. I kissed him back, happy to hold him and feel him so close to me.


	17. Alternate, Alternate, Control

"Okay, now take a step back." Adrien did as told, and I stepped forward to match him, grinning. "Good!"

"Well, I have a pretty good teacher." Adrien hummed, grinning at me, and I blushed darkly.

"Oh, shush! You're a natural at this." I narrowed my eyes at him, smirking a bit. "You weren't lying when you told me you've never learned how to ballroom dance, were you? I don't take well to liars." I pulled him close, and he laughed, letting go of my hand to reach up and play with one of my wolf ears.

"Well...." He began, drawing out the word, " Maybe a little." He admitted, returning my smirk with one of his own. "What are you going to do about it?" He asked, and I yelped as he suddenly spun me around, catching me around the waist and pulling my back to his chest as he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, letting out a dry, "Haha."

"Well?" He asked, and I could hear the smirk in his voice. I sighed dramatically, dropping most of my weight and slumping against him. The act surprised him, and he stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling onto his bed.

"Where'd my sweet innocent Adrien go?" I asked with a small pout. "You're such a tease now."

Adrien laughed loudly before suddenly dropping back onto his bed entirely, taking me with him.

"Ack!" I let out a gasp as my feet left the ground and I fell back onto the bed with him, hearing him grunt softly beneath me. I blinked, staring up at his ceiling before shuffling to the side and looking at him. "Well?"

"He's still here. Just a layer beneath the new, more mature me." He said with a smal laugh, and I nodded sagely.

"Ah yes, the hormonal teenage boy who has an affinity for pinning me to the ground." I said with a small laugh, and Adrien's face erupted with color, making me laugh happily. "You are so cute."

Adrien's blush didn't subside in the slightest, and he buried his face in my shoulder, huffing softly. "No, you're the cute one."

I hummed, lifting myself up a bit to turn around and brace myself over him like he usually did me. "How about we both agree that we are both adorable? That way, everyone wins." Adrien smiled at that, and he kissed the tip of my nose.  
  
"Sounds good to me." He hummed, scratching behind my ear. I let out a subconscious sigh, leaning into his touch happily as he scratched it. I could totally understand why dogs enjoyed this so much.

"Nathalie warning!" Plagg called from by the door, and I quickly detransformed, getting off Adrien and grabbing my notebook from the table beside his bed as Neeks went to hide with Plagg.

A few moments later Nathalie knocked on Adrien's door before coming in, her eyes glued to the tablet cradled in the crook of her arm. "Adrien, we need to get you to your next photo shoot now, so I'm afraid we need to take Jasper home." She said, causing me to pout. I had to leave already?

"Can't he come with?" Adrien asked hopefully, and Nathalie glanced up from her tablet, giving us a sad smile.

"Sorry, Adrien. Since the photographer isn't Vincent, it's safer to not have Jasper come with us this time."

"But he does better when I'm there." I wrote, showing her.

Nathalie sighed, lips quirking up at the corners. "Yes, he does- surprisingly. But this is a new photographer your father wants to try, and they are very strict."

"Oh yeah. That's never a fun thing." Adrien groaned, but he got off his bed and I followed suit. "Why doesn't Dad just constantly use Vincent?"

Nathalie heaved a heavy sigh, holding the door open for us as we left the room. "I wish I knew. It'd certainly make things easier for us though."

"Maybe he likes giving Vincent a break?" I suggested, and Adrien shrugged, smiling gently.

"Maybe." He said with a small laugh, walking down the steps quickly. We went outside and his bodyguard started the car once we got in, already knowing the way back to my house.

Adrien and I continued to converse silently while on the car ride, Neeks and Plagg peeking out of their hiding spots after a moment to join in.

A little under halfway there, Neeks suddenly gave a quiet gasp, looking up at me. I knew what that meant. I looked up at Adrien and he nodded, but as he was about to ask the bodyguard to stop, he suddenly slammed on the breaks, causing us all to let out a startled shout as we lurched forward.

"What's going on?!" Nathalie asked frantically, before looking out the side window and gasping. Adrien looked out the window beside him and gasped, ducking his head back inside. A grandfather clock was chiming loudly outside, and I could see smoke coming from further down the street.

"Chinday." Adrien said softly, and I nodded in agreement, before looking over to Nathalie. She was already unbuckling her seatbelt and starting to get out of the car.

"Alright boys, get out of the car. We need to find a safe place to wait this out." She said calmly, and we nodded, unbuckling our seatbelts and quickly getting out of the car from the opposite side. Once out of the car, the grandfather clock chimes became louder, and I noticed that as people were leaving their cars or running to safety, some were disappearing in the blink of an eye with each chime. I exchanged another look with Adrien before grabbing his wrist and sticking close.

We followed Nathalie and Adrien's body guard for a bit before we broke away from them in the confusion of people running away or disappearing, finding an alley way that was disserted. We transformed, and climbed to the top of the buildings.

"Should we try and see where the sound gets louder from?" I suggested when we were up on the rooftops, and Chat nodded.

"Sounds like a plan! We should stick together, though- if we get teleported somewhere, it'll probably be better if we're together instead of apart."

I nodded, agreeing with him. We started looking for the Chinday, listening for where the chimes were coming from as well as looking for any sort of body or person that was trying to come after us. 

We wandered for a bit before we found the Chinday, a girl with a very large pocket watch for her head that chimed with every tick on the clock. She was laughing, although there was no mouth to see where the sound was coming from.

"Bye-bye, you little pests! Enjoy living in your alternate lives~!" She sang, waving cheerfully as more people disappeared with the chime. I looked at Chat Noir, and he nodded, pointing to the left.

I nodded as well, and we split up, hoping to sneak up on her and pull her to the ground so we could do a better search for her center. I hopped up onto the roof of the nearest building, watching as Adrien used his staff to get on top of one as well. When we were both in position we leapt for her together when she was focused on finding a new group of people to attack.

We grabbed her arms, causing her to shout in anger and surprise as we started to fall to the ground, but right before we landed she disappeared, leaving us alone and grasping for air. "What the?" I looked around for her, trying to see where she had gone, but she was no where to be seen.

"So she can make herself disappear, too?" Chat groaned, placing a hand behind his head as we looked for her. "That makes things more difficult."

"No kidding..." I murmured, looking at Chat when his staff started ringing. He opened it and Ladybug popped up onto the screen, looking confused.

"Hey, where are you guys? The Chinday just showed up by Françoise-Dupont!" She asked when she noticed the two of us together, before moving her camera to the Chinday.

"It was here just a second ago!"

"Then hurry, before she disappears again!"

"We're on our way!" I told her, and she nodded, ending the call. I sighed, looking at Adrien again. "You know, we are like on the opposite side of the city from there."

"Eh, it's not that far." He grinned, grabbing my hand and starting to run in the direction of our old school. "Especially if you use your power."

I grinned, thinking of what would happen if we did use my powers. "So shall I use my power?"

"Of course, if you want to." Chat said, and  I laughed, slipping my hand from his as we ran so I could fall a bit behind.

"Alright, but prepare to be a princess instead of a knight!" Before he could ask me what I meant, I activated my power and swooped Adrien off his feet as I ran past- literally.

He yelped, wrapping his arms around my neck when he realized what was going on, his cheeks bright red as I laughed. He let out his own laugh, grinning. "Oh, my sweet Prince." He joked, pretending to swoon and only making me laugh harder.

I ran through the city, knowing my way to the school easily enough. When we got there we saw Ladybug trying to get the Chinday to stay still, and I set Adrien back on his feet, giving him a playful bow.

"We have arrived, Milord." I said, faking on of those accents butlers always seem to have.

"Ah, good." Chat said, faking the same accent. "Well then, shall we go help Miladybug?"

"We shall." I nodded in agreement, and we joined the fight.

The Chinday groaned when she spotted us, dodging our attacks with nimble ease. "Oh, great. Now all three of you are here." She transported herself away from the three of us, tapping the edge of her clock face as she crossed her other arm over her chest. "Hm.... How to handle this problem. After all, I really only need the Wolf brat over there."

"Hey!"

"We can hear you, you know!" The three of us snapped, and the Chinday froze as if she had forgotten that was possible.

"Oh." She said, clearing her throat before seeming to grin at us. "Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. I've got the _perfect_ solution to this predicament!" She moved a bit further back, waving her hand goodbye. "Bye!" She said cheerfully, and the three of us tensed, running to get to her before she disappeared.

She snapped, and instead her disappearing, everything went black.


	18. Alternate: If I Never Knew You (Jasper)

I groaned softly, blinking open my eyes and immediately furrowing my eyebrows.  
That..... Wasn't the sky, or the school.

I ran my hands slowly along what I was resting on, feeling soft sheets and mattress.   
That wasn't the ground.

"Jasper?" I tensed, eyes growing wide and heart pounding erratically in my chest. I felt like I couldn't breathe for a moment and on pure instinct I grabbed the sheets and pulled them over my head as the door opened, staying as quiet and still as I could as footsteps came closer. "Jasper? Hey kiddo, you awake yet?"

_Go away go away go away you're supposed to be_ dead _!!!_

A few seconds later the man sighed and he left my room, closing the door as he left. I sat up, throwing the sheets off my as I looked around in a panic. I felt a sickening feeling settle itself in my stomach as I realized I was _inside my old room_.

"Oh no...." I whispered, my eyes widening as I heard my voice. My hands flew up to my head, feeling for wolf ears and finding none. Panic flooded my system. "Neeks?!" I whisper-yelled, looking around the room for any sign of my Kwami. I felt around my neck, looking for the necklace, but couldn't find it, and there was no sign of Neeks in my room. "....Neeks?" I asked again, trying to ignore how my voice shook with fear and sounded small as it cracked.

"Jasper, sweetheart!" My mom shouted from somewhere in the house. "If you aren't awake now you better be when I get there!"

"Mom?!" I called out on reflex, and suddenly footsteps were thudding towards the door and my door was thrown open, mom standing in the doorway with a worried expression. Her presence did nothing to calm me, though, because right behind her stood my father.

"Holy Hera..." I breathed, staring at my dad with wide, terrified eyes. He stepped closer to me and I flinched, my body seizing up and my breathing picking up as my lungs and throat started to burn. He said something to me, I think, but I couldn't hear anything. I was too focused on trying to breathe.

I jerked away with a small scream as someone touched me, pressing back against the wall. "Don't touch me!" I shouted, scared and afraid and so, so confused. I felt lightheaded, my mind racing. Why was he here, why are we back in America, where was Neeks, everything _hurts_ he'll kill me he'll kill-

" _Jasper. Jasper, follow my instructions, baby. Can you hear me?_ " Mom's voice cut through the white noise and sound of my heart thudding beneath my burning lungs, sounded like it was muted and underneath water. I nodded weakly, trying so hard to focus on her voice. Mom was safe. Mom was okay. " _Good, good. Take a deep breath and hold it."_

I did as told, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling as she counted to five. I felt my head start to become clearer as she continued to have me do this, felt air come so much more easily to me now. " _One, two, th_ ree, four, five.... Good." Mom sighed in relief, smiling gently as I looked at her before looking at my hands, held in her own. My knuckles where white as I gripped her wrists, and when I moved them away I saw red blood coat the tips of my nails. Panicked, I looked back at her wrists, only to find they were unmarked.

Slowly, I reached up to my neck, and felt slick spots on it, pulling my hand away to see bright red smeared across my pale skin. I gulped, trying to ignore how my hands shook.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" Mom asked softly, placing her fingers under my chin and tilting my head up so I could look into her eyes. She looked worried, and scared. Her eyes kept flitting to my neck, and the worry only grew. I felt dizzy and sick, my head pounding from the panic and confusion while my heart tried to break out of my chest.

"W-Why is he here...? Why are we in America....?" I rasped, voice shaking badly still as I looked desperately at mom, trying to find answers. Instead, I felt dread as Mom frowned, the worry in her eyes growing as she cradled my face in her hands.

"What do you mean, sweetheart? We live here, the three of us... Like always." Mom said softly, holding her arms open for a hug. I gladly accepted it, carefully tucking my head under her chin and clinging to her like a lifeline as she stroked my hair and rocked me back and forth gently.

"N-No, y-you and I- we- we live in France. We moved there over a year ago...."

"I think that was just a realistic dream, sweetheart. We've been in America your whole life... You've never been to France." Mom said softly, running her hands through my hair. "Did you have a nightmare?" She asked after a moment, eyebrows furrowing as she leaned back to look at me. "Was that why you called for me and panicked when you saw your father?" I held back the overwhelming urge to let out a very distressed whine at so much the mention of my dad and the fact mom had no idea what I was talking about, and started moving so I could look at her completely as I spoke.

"... Don't you remember...? Dad-" I cut myself off, freezing in place and staring out the window behind her as I realized something.

The Chinday. She was the cause of this.  
But then where was Neeks...?

"Jasper? Sweetie?" Mom asked softly, voice nervous as she pulled me from my thoughts. When she saw I was paying attention again she smiled weakly, which I attempted to return. "Hey, you going to be okay?" She asked softly, kissing my forehead and hugging me close. I took a deep breath, prepared to lie straight to my mother's face, and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Mom. I just had a nightmare and it- it really got to me. Can you tell dad I'm sorry about freaking out on him while I get ready?"

Mom's smile went from worried to almost a bemused look. "I think you should tell him that yourself." She said softly, pointing towards the doorway where dad was standing, looking scared, nervous, and all around guilty. I fought against my body's reaction to seize and choke on pretty much nothing and stood up, shakily walking over to this universe's dad.

I couldn't meet his eyes, instead only able to look down at his feet. "I-I'm sorry for freaking out when I saw you, dad... It was a really bad nightmare " I said weakly, and Dad smiled, patting my shoulder. I tried not to flinch, but by the way he removed his hand almost like I had burned him, I had a feeling it didn't work.

"It's alright, Jasper. It happens." He said softly, smiling awkwardly at me when I tried to make my eyes meet his. He looked like he wanted to hug me, but didn't want to scare me even further. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, until dad cleared his throat. "Well, Mitzi, we should probably let Jasper get ready for the trip." He said quickly, turning to the side and motioning out of my room. I stepped back, looking at Mom with confusion.

"Trip? What trip?" I asked as Mom got up and brushed off her skirt. She laughed softly and smiled at me.

"Don't tell me you forgot, silly." She teased lightly, shaking her head at me. "You've been crazy about this trip for months, remember?"

"No, I really don't." I said softly, and although mom's smile faltered slightly at the admission, it didn't disappear.

"We're going on a road trip to the nearest known Native American Burial grounds, remember? You wanted to research them for school and just see them, pay your respects, things like that." While that did sound like something I'd do, I didn't remember ever asking for a trip, even before the bad things happened.

"Oh yeah! That's today? I totally forgot!" I said, smiling, but I felt fear creep and twist inside me. What if that meant Neeks and I will miss each other when he comes to look for me?

Mom left the room and I closed the door, quickly getting myself dressed and grabbing a pre-packed suitcase off to the side of my room. I paused in front of the mirror, noticing with a small sense of dread that the feathers that had been in my hair for over a year where no longer there. I ran my hands through my hair once, before rushing over to my desk.

I nearly slammed my hands down on the wooden surface from my panic, and after taking a deep breath, ripped a piece of paper out of the notebook sitting on top of it.

_Neeks,_

_If you get here after I leave, look for me in Michigan. We'll be at Native American burial grounds, and it'll take us about a day to get there. I'll keep an eye out for you._   
_Please hurry, I want to go back home._

_~Jasper_

After writing the note, I looked around and called out for Neeks again, only to get silence as my answer. I whimpered, biting my lip. Where was he? I really didn't want to end up stuck in a car with Dad for who knows how many days.

I steeled myself, taking a deep breath and leaving my room, smiling at my parents and trying not to remember that night. "Let's go."

"Sounds good to us." Dad said with a happy smile. Mom brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she turned on her seat to face me.

"But, sweetie, if you, y'know, don't want to go, that's fine too, okay?" She said softly, voice genuinely worried. I smiled at her, shaking my head slightly. I had no idea what was going on, but it was probably safest to go with them. See where this went.

Besides, Neeks had always seemed tied to Native American cultures, so chances are, I might be able to find him this way... I hope. I took a deep breath again, shaking my head.

"No, I'm okay with this, I promise." I told her, and she smiled, standing and looping her arm through my dad's before grabbing one of the suitcases beside them. Dad grabbed his own, and we left the house to get to the car.

\------

I took another deep breath as I sat in the backseat of the car, looking up at the sky as we drove through the last hour of the trip before reaching the burial grounds, my leg bouncing nervously and my hand occasionally going to my neck, rubbing where the scars had been, and the fresh cuts were hidden beneath a red bandana. What if I couldn't find Neeks again?

I shook my head, trying to ignore that thought as I closed my eyes and just let myself bathe in the sunlight, the wind whipping around me.

"So, Jasper..." I opened my eyes again, looking at Dad when he spoke. I had shockingly gotten used to his presence again over the past few days, although I think it helped that he didn't seem as... crazy, as he had when he had been alive those last few months. He actually seemed really healthy.

"Hm?" I hummed, and he smiled a little bit.

"Where do you think you want to go first when we get there?"

I shrugged, sitting back again. "I don't know... The graves, I guess?"

Dad laughed, smiling kindly. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and I looked away from his face in the rearview mirror, not used to him looking at me like that. I was used to angry glares, disappointed looks, murderous smirks, maniac grins. Not.... this.

I shuddered as a memory of my dad's face flashed for a moment, and I curled up on the seat, watching trees go by instead. I'll find Neeks soon.

Then we can go home.

\-------

"Finally!" Mom cheered, getting out of the car and stretching. "Ugh, I'm so done with not taking breaks on the way to places. You doing okay, Jaspie? No sunburn?" She looked at me as I got out of the back, hopping onto the ground.

I lightly pressed my fingers to my arms and legs before checking my face, and I smiled. "Nope! No sunburn!" I said cheerfully, and she and dad sighed in relief.

"Good. The sunscreen was strong enough." Mom said happily, and I nodded in agreement. We started walking along a beaten path, and I fell behind my parents a bit, looking around as we walked. The air here, it felt.... familiar. Almost like home. It smelled of pine and sap, too.

I wonder if had anything to do with nearly dying.

We walked for a while, when suddenly a faintly sweet scent came upon us, and I froze in my tracks. My parents turned around, wondering why I had stopped, but I wasn't focused on them any more.

I knew this feeling.

"Jasper? Are you okay, sweetheart?" My mom asked as I started looking around the burial site, trying to catch even the smallest movement. He was close. The wind grew stronger, and I caught another whiff of the scent, and I turned to where it came from.

"I'll be right back!" I said quickly, before before breaking into a run and leaving the path, dodging branches and making sure not to trip over any logs or branches. I could hear my parents shout my name, but their voices disappeared soon enough.

I looked around, trying to spot my small kwami friend, hoping upon hope that I wasn't somehow wrong and this scent _wasn't_ his.

After a long while, I had to stop, stumbling and placing my hands on my knees as I took deep breaths, trying to regain my breath. Where was he? Neeks should be here!  
  
  


The wind blew past me again, ruffling hair and bringing with it the familiar smell. I heard the sound of someone standing up, leaves and branches crunching under their heels. I turned around, gasping at what I saw.

A man probably a few years older than me stood from a ring of stones, the one against the base of a tree bigger than the rest. He was turning towards me and had sapphire blue eyes that held a deep sadness within them, the left one having a red scar cutting across it, his skin was nearly transparent, and his hair was the color of silver. None of that was what made me gasp, however. What did, was the pair of silver wolf ears perched on top of his head.

"....Neeks?"

The man blinked, eyes blank but a bit confused, but I knew, deep down inside, that this _had_ to be Neeks. There was no way this wasn't him!

But if it was..... why did he look like this?

"Who...?" The male asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as we faced each other completely. "You... You can _see_ me?"

"Neeks! It's me, Jasper!" I said quickly, taking a step forward. The man tensed, stepping back.

"Why do you keep calling me that....?"

"Because that's your name! Isn't it?" I asked, feeling a new wave of panic and worry set in. Don't tell me _Neeks_ was affected, too!

"That's not-" The man blinked, eyes widening as he stopped short. He rushed towards me, making me jump in surprise as he grabbed my shoulders and buried his nose in my shoulder. He reeled back just as fast, eyes wide and scared as he let go and put distance between us. "Why do you smell of me?! I never-!"

"Yes, you did!" I nearly shouted, "You met me four years ago, and had me become Wolven! You're my kwami, don't you remember?"

Neeks tensed, bristling slightly. "No, I think I'd remember that! I admit I _have_ been looking at you for the position but... But not all the requirements have been met..." His voice dropped to a whisper at the last part, and I gulped.

" _Please_ , Neeks. You have to remember! You saved me! You gave me my voice back, you-"

"No!" He suddenly shouted, covering his ears with his hands and shutting his eyes tightly, nearly curling in on himself. "No, no I didn't! I swore to never have another chosen, much less actually have to make the pact! There's a reason I made it so difficult to meet!" His voice cracked a few times, and I felt my heart break as I realized he was probably on the verge of tears. It made my own tears start to build as well.

"Please... Please, I need you to remember. We need to go home, Neeks."

"Why are you calling me that?!" He shouted, looking up at me again with eyes burning with some emotion I wasn't sure I knew. Was that the same look I'd give people early on after my accident? "That's not my name!"

"It's the name you gave me the first night we met!"

"You're wrong!" Neeks shouted, and tears actually started to fall from his eyes. "You're wrong! You can't have become my chosen! You'll only get-"

"Fangs Barred!" I shouted, wanting to stop him from spilling secrets he didn't want me to know yet and from hearing him get even further worked up about this. He froze, staring at me with tears dripping from his eyes.

"Y-You..."

"You told me that those were the words your chosen say every time they transform." I said as calmly as I could. "You told me to try writing them down, to see if that worked to transform me since my voice was destroyed. It didn't work, so you did something to make it I didn't have to say anything to transform, just meet your eyes." I explained, and his expression slowly turned from one of dismayed awe to a sudden spark of remembrance. I kept talking, hoping he'd remember me the more I talked about him.

"You love chocolate, but because you're like a wolf, it gives you an upset stomach, and so I only get it for you on special occasions. You convinced me and my mom to move to France and help Plagg and Tikki with their chosen. You're scared of Anamaqkiu, and you've got a past that hurts you so much, even as she attacks France, you can't find the proper time to tell me why she's after us, but that's okay, because I know what that's like and I want you to tell me when you're ready. Not like this." I explained, taking a deep breath and calming myself down enough to relax again. His eyes were wide, but now they were filled with recognition.

"Not when you don't remember me." My voice shook without me wanting it to, and I felt like I was about to cry.

"Jasper...." Neeks whispered, causing my breath to hitch.

"Yeah?" I asked just as softly, and his cheeks turned rosy, a shy smile growing on his face. "I'm so sorry I forgot you."

I sighed in relief, a laugh bubbling in my throat as I ran to him and hugged him tightly. "I missed you!" I told him, burying my face in his chest. I felt his breath hitch, but a moment later he was hugging me back in return.

"I missed you too, pup..." He said softly, nuzzling my hair. "I'm so sorry for forgetting."

"It's not your fault, Neeks." I said softly, relishing in the hug a bit longer before moving back and smiling at him. "Can we go home now?"

Neeks laughed softly, nodding. "Of course. But before that...." He reached into his pocket, the wind wrapping around us as he kept it there for a few minutes before pulling out a necklace, holding it out to me. "I believe you need this?" He put the necklace around my neck, smiling slightly. "It was about time to update it, anyway."

I looked down after he put it on, seeing the necklace had eight beads changing color every other bead on the leather cord and a Quartz arrowhead in the center. As I looked, the beads that were a white color slowly changed to an almost blood red color. "Wait... This is my Miraculous?"

Neeks smiled, nodding. "This version suits you much better, and is a bit nicer to look at. The white alabaster beads are your transformation time, and the Apache tears are your power. When you aren't transformed, the alabaster beads will be, well, red, I guess." I nodded, looking up at him again when I realized something. "Wait... I can use my power four times?" Neeks nodded, smiling shyly and scratching at his cheek lightly.

"Yeah... And you lost a time for transformation.... Your endurance is a lot stronger than I thought it would be, so.... This should be alright, don't you think?"

I nodded, looking at the necklace again. "It's perfect, Neeks."

"Good! One last thing, then." He took a deep breath, his ears flattening slightly as he seemed to grow nervous. "Ask me one question. Anything you want. I promise I'll answer honestly."

I blinked, not having expected this, but smiled brightly, thinking about what to ask. After a few moments, I nodded, knowing the question I wanted to ask. "What made you stop searching for chosen?"

Neeks looked mildly surprised at that question, a small laugh escaping him. "That one first?"

"Yes please. If not, I can ask your true name?"

Neeks shook his head, smiling a bit nervously. "No, please. You're too smart to know it right now... I'm not ready for you to learn the truth yet." I motioned for him to go on, smirking slightly.

"Then go on."

He laughed again, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well.... I was... Caught by Anamaqkiu at one point. She exploited a part of me, and I couldn't break free of her control until Plagg and Tikki helped me... It's... Actually how I got my scar." He reached up to place a hand over the scarred eye, and I nodded, waiting patiently for him to continue. "After that.... I don't know. My judgement-my _mind_ was....clouded. I was suddenly making bad decisions and choosing people without really making sure they were _worthy_ and... And they did so many bad things during the war, to both me and others..... And then they were killed, like all the rest..... I couldn't- couldn't handle it anymore. So I shut away that part of myself, until...." He trailed off, eyes locking with mine after a moment.

"Until you came along." He smiled, placing a hand lightly on my cheek. "You... You gave me hope again. You were my shining light in the darkness I had cast myself in. Now, though.... Now, you're being targeted by Anamaqkiu, just like the rest.... It scares me to think she'll kill you."

I was quiet for a while before placing my hand over his and giving him a confident smile. "She won't. I won't let this repeat for you again." I smiled even more, giggling a bit. "Think of it as my repayment for being _my_ shining light in the dark."

Neeks laughed again, cheeks turning rosy again. "You're such a sweetheart, my goodness." He grinned at me then, taking my hands in his. "Ready to go after this Chinday and get home?" I nodded, smiling in return.

"You bet!" I said happily, and Neeks chuckled.

"Well then, you know what to say!"

"Neeks: Fangs Bared!"

After the transformation, I jumped when I heard a gasp, turning to see my mom standing there with her hands to her mouth. " _Jasper?!_ "

I laughed sheepishly, waving to her. "Uh... Hi, mom."

"I- what- you-" Mom stuttered, not sure what to do as she stared. "You're.... Wolven?"

I flushed darkly at that, not sure what to say now. "Um, you know... I'll explain this all to you whenI come back, okay? I, uh.... I've got to get going. Bye, Mom!" I said quickly, and without waiting for a response I ran off, using my boots to get myself above and into the trees as I looked for the Chinday.

"Any ideas where she is?" I asked, and Neeks was quiet for a few moments.

"I think so. Take a left!" I did as said, rebounding off the tree I jumped to and starting to the left.

"Hey, can I ask one last question?"

"Depends. What's the question?" Neeks asked, amusement in his voice. It seemed like he knew I'd come up with another question to ask.

"Just how many forms do you have?!" Neeks laughed at my question, a bright, childish sound that made me smile.

"Three, but the third one is a secret!"

"And which one is your _real_ form?"  I asked, rolling my eyes a bit. He was suddenly sounding so childish and playful, it was hard to believe he had been on the verge of a breakdown ten minutes ago.

"Well, to be honest.... The third one and the human one are both my true forms. Turn right!"

I jumped onto the tree to my right, nodding a bit. "Well, that's pretty interesting." Neeks let out a soft hum of indifference, and I could imagine him shrugging if he wasn't merged with me or whatever happened in the transformation.

"Yes, I suppose it is. It makes more sense once you know who I am."

"Take you time in telling me, though. No need to rush you." I said softly, and Neeks laughed softly again.

"No worries. I'll tell you soon, pup."

I nodded, ears perking up slightly when I heard a sharp laugh in the distance. "Is that her?"

"Most likely." Neeks said softly, a frown in his voice. "Be careful.... I don't know what she'll try now that you're alone."

  
"Yeah, speaking of that, where _are_ the others?" I asked, my stomach rolling at the idea of Adrien and Marinette going through something similar.

  
".....If I had to guess.... they are in their own realities."

"Oh." I sighed, shaking my head a bit in exasperation. "Well, that's just great. That's- that's not good in the slightest." Neeks let out a small sound of agreement, and when I jumped out of the last tree I landed on the ground, looking for the Chinday.

She was easy enough to spot, actually. She was looking down into the river, laughing and giggling as she watched something play out in the surface. I couldn't see what it was, but didn't wait long to find out.

I unsheathed my claws, creeping forward quietly until I was almost right behind her. I attacked then, moving to scratch at her back. with one hand while the other reached for the hand she was constantly snapping with. Chances are, that was where her center was.

She screamed when I slashed her back and grabbed her wrist, but she disappeared and reappeared a few feet away, here clock face turning red from anger. "How _dare_ you?!" She shrieked as I ran for her again. "I gave you the life you've always wanted!" She snapped her fingers, but instead of her disappearing, I found myself falling into the river with a yelp, and felt a sudden flare of panic from Neeks that nearly sent me shooting back out of the water. I stood up quickly, scrambling for purchase through the fast current and the algae covered rocks.

I took deep breaths, hoping it'd calm him down a bit more, and brushed my hair from my eyes, snarling at the Chinday when I saw her standing a little ways away. "You should be  _thanking_ me!" She snapped, and I scoffed, going to attack her again.

"Sorry, but this isn't what I want!" I snapped, sweeping her feet out from under her. She shouted in surprise, anger hindering her reactions and movements. I straddled her waist, pinning down her arms above her head so I could us the other to grab her center. "What I want is to go home!"

I cut into her palm and she screamed bloody murder, her back arching as she tried to throw me off her body. I caught a glimmer of silver and reached in, grabbing her center and yanking it out as she let out another scream. It was a silver pocket watch, dripping with black goo that made up the Chinday's blood. I crinkled my nose in disgust, never having enjoyed this part. It felt like I was hurting an actual person, even though I knew very well that I wasn't. I stayed where I was, setting the watch down on the ground beside me and slamming my claws into it. The clock shattered, and the Chinday crumbled to ash with another agonizing cry.

I sighed, relaxing and sitting back on my heels. Before I could say anything, though, the ground beneath me opened up and swallowed me whole.

Guess I was going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important End Note: I apologize if I have offended anyone with my use of Native American burial grounds. I know they are sacred, but I don't really know how going to see them works.... I've been doing the best I can with research, but I really don't think I got anywhere.... I mean no harm to your culture and beliefs.


	19. Alternate: Love Will Find A Way (Adrien)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real quick, guys! In Before Things Changed Part 1, I mentioned I'd be making a chapter all about Neeks and Plagg for the Final, Bonus chapter of Without the Mask. However, I've been thinking, and.... I'll be making it a book instead! Too much potential to cut it down into a chapter. Consider it the Prequel to Cat's New Toy. I just have one big question for you guys: 
> 
> Do you want it to have romantic moments between Plagg and Neeks, or do you want it to stay purely platonic, like their relationship really is in these stories? Because I'll do either. (Personally, I think the romantic moments will add an extra source of light comedy and wonderful fluff and the angst- oh, the angst!- but again, your guys' choice.)
> 
> Anyway, let me know down in the comments, okay? Thank you!!!

_BeepBeepBeepBeep-_

My hand slammed the alarm beside my bed off, and I scrambled onto my hands and knees, looking around frantically. Why was I home, and not fighting the Chinday with the others? "Plagg..!" I hissed, and the small black cat God groaned, sitting up from a mess of Camembert tins. I crinkled my nose in disgust, but shook it away a moment later. "Plagg, why are we home?"

"Uh.... Cause you live here?" Plagg said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Gotta give me more to go off of here, kid."

I huffed, growling slightly in annoyance. "What happened to that clock chinday? Why aren't we Franciose-Dupont? Where is Jasper? Marinette?"

Plagg blinked at me, his stare blank. "There hasn't been any chinday attacks recently, and who the heck is Jasper?"

This time, it was my turn to stare.

"Jasper? Jasper Wells? My _boyfriend_?"

"Boyfriend?" Plagg asked, shocked, "When'd you get off Ladybug?"

"What are you talking about?! She's just a friend, anyway!" I groaned, blushing darkly as he continued to insist he had no idea who Jasper was. "You knew I had a crush on him before even _I_ did!"

Plagg laughed then, grinning. "Wow, who is this kid?! I want to meet him if he's got you dreaming about him."

"It's not a dream!" I snapped, and Plagg shrugged, completely unconvinced.

"Uh-huh, sure. Now get ready for school, Adrien." He said, shooing me off the bed as I stood up to get ready. I was going to make him remember Jasper and the kwami if it was the last thing I did, this was getting ridiculous.

"Jasper's kwami was your friend! A gray wolf with more complex powers than you and Ladybug's kwami, his name is Neeks, and he's got some sort of connection to Anamaqkiu!"

Plagg froze, green eyes widening. The fur on his back stood on end, and he let out an almost menacing, but also rather embarrassed hiss. "How do you know about that?!"

"I _told_ you! Jasper is his chosen and I'm dating him! You and Neeks talk about it all the time, but you never actually explain anything!"

"Please, I'd never-"

"You and him had met before, something happened between you, Tikki, Neeks, and Anamaqkiu. Something that made Tikki hate him and made Neeks stop finding chosen." I explained, not giving Plagg any time to dismiss what I was saying. He _had_ to remember.  "You scold him about eating chocolate and he teases you about your love of Camembert. He jokes about you becoming a pig, or..." I trailed off, trying to remember other things Neeks had joked about with Plagg in retaliation to comments about his love of chocolate.

Plagg didn't give me time to find any, though, because he seemed to turn incredibly embarrassed, shaking his head and letting out another small hiss paired with a groan. "Oh _wow_ , that Chinday's power is annoying!" He complained, flying to my shoulder.

"It's weird how easy it is to break her control,  though." I commented, finally starting to get ready for the day. I'd get to Jasper and Marinette at school for sure. Plagg gave a little shrug.

"I mean, she was really only after Jasper... Chances are she didn't care too much about us to actually make a lasting effect." His ear flicked at bit and he crossed his arms over his chest, a frustrated look on his face. "Although it still doesn't feel right. I feel like Neeks's _actual_ aura is here, but Tikki's isn't- which means if they broke free of whatever she did so easily in their own space-"

"Then what was the point of bringing us here in the first place?" I finished for him, and he nodded.

"Tread carefully, Adrien."

"Got it."

\-------

When I got to school, I nearly jumped from the car, looking around for Jasper and the others. They'd be here already, right? They almost always beat me to school- well, except for Marinette.

I spotted Alya and Nino when Nino called out to me, and I went over them. "Hey Nino, Alya. Where's Jasper?"

"Who?" Nino asked, brows furrowing in confusion. I felt my stomach sink at his words. Why didn't they know one of our friends? Come to think of it- why didn't _Plagg_ know about him? I talked his ear off almost constantly after a month of knowing Jasper.

Alya was thinking still about my question, humming slightly before snapping her fingers. "Oh! You're talking about that upperclassmen, right?" She asked excitedly, and I frowned.

"Upperclassmen...?"

Alya nodded, grinning. "Yeah! Jasper Wells, right? The white-haired kid who can't talk and skipped a grade in America."

Nino smiled at Alya, amusement in his eyes. "How do you know this?"

Alya's grin grew and she crossed her arms over her chest, looking at Nino smugly. "I went and interviewed a few people when we came here. I have my ways of making people talk." She said happily before getting serious again and looking at me again. "Why are you suddenly asking about him, Adrien? The kid stays as far from a crowd as I've ever seen- told me he hates attention when I asked about it. I just noticed him because of his hair and eyes, otherwise I would have just ignored his presence entirely."

"I  could have sworn he was in our grade." I said after a moment, and Alya shook her head.

"Nope. He's in the grade above us."

I bit my lip lightly, trying to think of a way to find him. "Do you know where he hangs out in the mornings? Or if he takes a study period?"

At that, both of them gave me a confused, almost worried look. "Dude... When did you even meet him?" Nino asked, and I groaned softly, placing my head in my hands.

 "It's complicated... Trust me." I explained, looking at Alya after that. "Please, Alya, if you know anything, I need you to tell me. It's really important."

Alya gave me a scrutinizing gaze for a moment, before sighing. "Come to my study hall after first period- you have a free period then, right? He hangs out in the back of the classroom."

I smiled, giving Alya a quick hug. "Thank you! I'll repay you for this, don't worry!"

Alya laughed, patting my back. "Oh, shush. No need for that, unless you want to give me an exclusive interview." She teased, and I laughed, moving back. Step one: finding Jasper complete.

Step two: getting him to remember, is go.

Over an hour later, I met with Alya outside her class, and she sighed. "So, will you tell me just why you need to see him?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I said with a hesitant laugh, and Alya shrugged.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But clearly you aren't going to tell me." She opened the door then, motioning me in. I started scanning the room immediately, looking for Jasper. "See him? He's-"

"Jasper!" I called, rushing over to him when I spotted him. He jumped, his crimson eyes widening as he set his pencil down a little harder than he need. The students in the room immediately started murmuring, but I ignored them all as I stopped beside his desk. "Sorry for startling you, I just... I just really need to talk to you about something important." I explained nervously. Why did this make me so nervous? It was just Jasper, after all. I've talked to him about so much more intimate things than just introducing myself- I've _done_ more intimate things with him than just introducing myself and shaking his hand.

 Maybe it was because I wasn't just introducing myself.

Jasper looked up, confusion clearly on his face, his expression screaming "Do I know you?"

I bit my lip, rubbing the back of my neck. "Please, can I talk to you for a-"

"Adrikins! I didn't know you were in this study hall period, too!" I held in a groan, sighing heavily as I forced a smile onto my face. This was not going as smoothly as I had planned- not that I had planned, well, _anything_.

"Hi Chloe." I said as kindly as I could. I was not in the mood for this. She draped her arms around me, and I took her wrists gently in my own, removing her from around my shoulders as I turned back to Jasper. "Listen, I _really_ need to talk to you about something. Can you spare a moment?"

Jasper bit his lip, making a point not to look at me as he tapped the edge of his notebook and shrugged lightly. He flipped to another page quietly, cheeks turning pink as the class continued whispering while watching us. "Adrien, why do you want to talk to him, huh?" Chloe asked, huffing slightly as she crossed her arms.

'Because he's my boyfriend, and there is an Chinday on the loose.' I thought, slouching slightly when Jasper showed what he had written down.

"I'm sorry, I can't right now. I really need to study."

"Can it wait a moment? Please, this won't-"

Chloe groaned, wrapping her arms around my arm and pressing against me. "Come _on_ , Adrien. What is your obsession with this weirdo?!" She asked, and I felt the smallest bit of rage filter through my system, forcing myself to stay calm and take a deep breath.

Jasper looked uncomfortable now, and I hated making him feel this way, but this was important. We needed to go. We needed to beat this Chinday, fast— but it also hurt that Jasper had no idea who I was. I was happy he didn't see "Adrien the Model", but it hurt that he didn't see "Adrien", period.

"Please." I repeated, carefully extracting my arm from Chloe's grasp and gently pushing her away. "What can I do to make you come with me?"

"I don't know who you are." He mouthed slowly, and I felt my lower lip quiver slightly.

"You have to remember, Jasper. Please." As a last ditch effort, I moved forward, gently grasping his chin and planting my lips firmly against his. He let out a surprised croak, and I faintly heard the kids in the class express their shock while someone- probably Alya- let out a whistle.

I lost myself into the kiss when he relaxed into it, kissing me back softly. I forced myself to move away a moment later, opening my eyes to see a beautiful crimson blush spread across Jasper's cheeks as recognition shined in his eyes. "Adrien..." He mouthed, and I nodded, cupping his face in my hands and smiling at him.

"Welcome back, Jasper."

He smiled back happily, but his eyes quickly grew wide and he scrambled up from his chair, grabbing my wrist and pulling me from the classroom. "Jasper?!"

He didn't respond in any way to my confusion, just kept running until we were in the empty locker rooms, closing and locking the door shut. He transformed into Wolven almost immediately.

"Jasper?" I asked, and he smiled a little nervously. "What's the sudden rush?"

"We need to find the Chinday, no? Better to stop her now, than wait.... Since I'm here, that probably means we'll end up where Marinette is next, and... I want to get home, fast. I don't like these places. They make my skin crawl."

I nodded in understanding, smiling at him. "I get it. I haven't been having the greatest time here, myself. Remember when I wondered what it would have been like if we hadn't know each other?"

"Wasn't fun, was it?" He asked almost knowingly, a small smirk gracing his lips, and I laughed, shaking my head.

"Not one bit. Plagg, Claws Out!" After I transformed, Wolven opened the window in the back of the room and we slipped through, once again going to the top of the roofs to get a better vantage point. "Okay, so where should we check first?"

"I have no idea." Wolven said with a small laugh, "But have I got some interesting things to tell you and Marinette when all this over." He looked both proud and curious as he said this, like more questions had been given to him instead of answers, but I decided to wait to ask about it.

We ran around town, looking for the Chinday. As we wandered, though, I couldn't help but notice some differences in his outfit. "You look a little different." I said after a moment, and he blinked, looking at me.

"Huh?" He asked, and I motioned to him again.

"Your outfit... Things changed on it."

He looked down, as if noticing the fact his clothes had changed for the first time. He studied the white bandages covering his hands and the dark gray pants, a small "Huh." escaping his lips as his right ear flicked. He looked a little awed, before looking down at his shoes and letting out a small whine. "Aw, not again!" He groaned, and I looked down to see what the problem was.

His boots had gained a good inch or so in heel. I bit my lip to hold in a chuckle, and threw an arm over his shoulders. "Oh, come now. It's not that bad!" I commented, grinning at him. "At least they aren't crazy tall- or stilettos!"

"I guess..." He mumbled, cheeks turning a dark pink. "I thought I told Neeks to get rid of the heels once we moved to Paris." He stomped his foot in frustration, pouting cutely. "I don't get his obsession with heels at all!"

"Wait, those are his idea?"

"Yes! He actually had me figure out how to fight in them without doing something like roll or break my ankle back in America!" I laughed softly then nuzzling him lightly.

"Did you trip and fall flat on your face the first time you tried walking in them?"

"No... We worked up to this height." He said softly, and I let out another small laugh.

 "We could have used you when Reflekta was around. She had heels about that height- maybe taller- and I fell flat on my face when I was transformed into her because of her power. I hold very high respect for you and anyone else who can walk in those."

At that, Wolven let out a small giggle, and I couldn't help but capture his lips in a kiss, glad I was still slightly taller than him with those heels.

"I thought models were good at walking in heels?" He asked softly once the kiss broke, and I laughed.

"The shoes I wear are almost all tennis shoes or some other type of flat. Although, I _have_ been practicing a bit."

"Well, I hope to see you walk in heels some day... Back to Chinday hunting?" He asked, giving me a small peck on the lips. I nodded, smiling.

"Back to Chinday hunting."

\-----

Somewhere around halfway down the Seine River, we came across the Chinday. She noticed us as we crept closer, and she groaned. "Oh great." She spat. "You again? Just stay here happily!"

"We _liked_ our actual reality, thank you very much!" Wolven snarled, and I nodded in agreement.

"Why are you even taking us to these realities, anyway?" I asked, and the chinday let out a heavy sigh, checking her nails as if she was bored.

"Like you don't get it" She stated with a know it all tone. "If you are here, who would protect the little wolf's chosen? I could have killed him with ease, had someone not messed with my reality before hand!" I growled, getting between her and Wolven. "And it seems they did it again! After all, all four of you brats remember everything!" She turned angry again, snarling at us.

"Her center is in her left hand- the one she snaps with." Wolven murmured, and I nodded. "Ready to fight?"

"Always." I murmured back to him, and he gave my wrist a small squeeze. I grinned, grabbing my staff and pressing the paw print to extend it. "As much as I don't want to tick you off, save all this tock-ing for later, will you?" I teased, wanting to lighten the mood up a tiny bit and grinning at the Chinday, who let out a small growl. Wolven groaned softly, rolling his eyes.

"Not your best one, love. " He said softly, making me laugh and shrug.

"No one ever said I was _good_ at them." I told him, giving him a quick wink before darting forward to attack.

"She can move you too, be careful!" Wolven said quickly, and I nodded, keeping that in mind as I swung my baton to knock her into the river. If we startle her enough, chances are she'd drop her guard and we could finish this quickly, right?

She snapped, disappearing and reappearing near Wolven, who growled and attacked her with his metal claws. I watched him fight for a moment, entranced by how gracefully he moved.

 _It's probably because he was a dancer._ I mused, and I smiled at the thought. I didn't let myself ponder much longer, though, and jumped back into the battle when Jasper was teleported a few feet away, shouting, "Arcessere: Cat!" and landing lightly on all fours. I swung at the Chinday again, landing a hit and knocking her into the Seine.

She yelped as she hit the water, and I was about to go in after her when Wolven called out.

"Chat! I can't follow you in, Neeks won't let me!"

"Don't worry, I got this, Wolfie!" I gave him a mock salute before diving into the water, swimming to where the Chinday had gone. Thankfully, she was still there when I got to her, although she was unconscious, and after grabbing her wrist I swam back up to the surface for air.

I took a deep breath when I broke through the surface of the water, lifting the Chinday's left arm and gritting my teeth as I activated Cataclysm and used it to extract her center. She started shouting, spouting out curses and threats in a language I didn't know or recognize as I grabbed a gleaming silver pocket watch and threw it to Wolven, who was waiting at the shore line. Wolven ran forward and caught it, using his claws to smash it apart. The Chinday shrieked and thrashed, but it didn't stop her from turning into ash. 

I panted slightly from the battle, looking at Wolven after a moment. He smiled at me, his chest heaving slightly as well. I was about to head over to him when the ground fell out from beneath my feet, and I fell into the water again.


	20. Happy Anniverary!!

I didn't think of this back in May, but I realized yesterday that Cat's New Toy's 2nd anniversary passed!

While Without the Mask isn't even a year old, everything from the concept of Jasper to the actual story itself would never have expanded to the point it has without all of you who have stuck around!

As thanks, I have some pictures for all of you. They all range through the last year or so before Jasper's accident, so about four years before the time of Without the Mask.

 

[](https://ibb.co/hEuOLQ) [](https://ibb.co/fQ7cfQ)

[ ](https://ibb.co/iwYiLQ)

[ ](https://ibb.co/iB8iLQ)

 


	21. Alternate: I'm Gonna Love You (Marinette, Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!!! I'm sorry this is so late, I had no inspiration!! But I watched the first two episodes of season 2 and I am back in the game, baby!!! Things you guys should know:
> 
> 1) Halloween Special will be arriving on Halloween, but will not be posted in the story. Instead, it will be a oneshot! I'll send you guys a link with an Author's note, or at the very least, tell you where to go!
> 
> 2) I will incorporate some things from S2. No more Miraculous Holders will appear, and Chloe is staying as far away from it as I can possibly get her, but some things from S2 are beginning to mix with my story, so I figure lets just add them here and there. No spoilers though! Promise!
> 
> Anyway, onto the story!

"Marinette, wake up! You're gong to be late again!" Tikki's voice reached my ears through a blurry haze of sleep, and I gasped, siting up quickly.

 

"What happened to the Chinday?!" I asked, panicked as I looked to Tikki, but she jut looked confused.

"Marinette, there hasn't been a Chinday attack in days! Are you feeling okay?"

I stared at Tikki, confused. "...What do you mean?" I asked slowly, "I feel fine. We had been at school, fighting a Chinday who could-" I paused, realization dawning on me almost immediately.

"Could what?"

"Could do some sort of teleportation!" I scrambled out of bed, quickly getting dressed. "She was saying for people to enjoy their new lives, or- or something like that. She must have sent us to different times!"

"Marinette, there was never a Chinday attack." Tikki said softly, "But I suppose that does sound like a possibility. Do you think Adrien and Jasper would know about this?"

"I hope so!" I said quickly, grabbing my school bag and darting downstairs. I quickly grabbed one of Papa's pastries and quickly left the house, running to school.

For once, I actually make it there early enough to ask the boys about it before first period. I look around, trying to see if I can find my friends in the crowd.

"Marinette!"

I jumped, gasping in surprise and turning around to see Alya behind me.

"Alya!"

Alya raised an eyebrow at me, an amused smile on her lips. "What's got you here so early?" She asked with a laugh, looping her arm through mine as she dragged me to where the others probably were. "Or I guess the more appropriate question would be what's got you looking around the school like you can see through walls?"

"I need to talk to Adrien and Jasper about something important." I explained, and Alya nodded.

"Well you're in luck! Adrien and Jasper are both here this morning!" She said with a small hum. Instead of leading me to one of the empty halls we usually spent the morning free time in, however, she led me to a quiet corner on the main floor that was still in view of most people. Before I could question why we were clearly in sight of so many people, I noticed something that, to me, was far more troubling.

Adrien and Jasper weren't even standing next to each other.

They were talking to each other, of course, but instead of being side by side and subtly being a cutesy couple, they were standing across from each other with more space between them than I had seen in weeks in our civilian forms. They looked completely at ease, though. No signs of a fight, no awkwardness, nothing.

It was like they had never dated to begin with.

"...Did something happen between Adrien and Jasper?" I asked, looking from the boys to Alya, who looked at me curiously.

"What do you mean? They're acting like normal, Mari."

I bit the inside of my cheek, hoping my face didn't give away the uncertainty and confusion I was feeling. "Really?"

Alya nodded, before calling out to the boys. "Adrien, Jasper, look who showed up early!"

Jasper looked around Adrien's shoulder while Adrien turned slightly, and my old crush on Adrien made itself known as his eyes just lit up when they landed on me.

"Marinette!" Adrien said happily, coming over and giving me a tight hug.

He moved back a moment later, keeping his hands on my shoulders as he smiled down at me. My heart skipped a beat and I could feel heat rushing to my cheeks. That smile... That smile was one I had wanted aimed at me for over a year. That smile...

Was the one Adrien usually gave only to Jasper.

The butterflies starting to take flight in my stomach died right about then as cold realization set in. They weren't dating. They didn't even seem to have dated in the _past_ here. Where was I, then? What else was different?

Then, a small butterfly seemed to have the strength to take flight again as it fluttered to life in my stomach. If Adrien was giving me the smile he gave Jasper in my world, then that means....

Heat flooded my entire face, and I swear I could hear steam coming out of my ears as the fact _I was dating Adrien Agreste_ set in. Adrien, Jasper, and Alya all looked at me worriedly, and I gave them a nervous laugh as I pulled myself together.

Jasper flipped his notebook open, tapping to the sentence "You okay?" In one of the corners. I nodded, giving the group a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay!" I told them cheerfully. "I, uh, I just have something important to talk to you and Adrien about, actually. Privately."  
  
Adrien and Jasper exchanged a glance before looking back at me.

"Okay." Adrien said with a small smile before turning to Alya. "Excuse us for a minute." He said, polite and charming as ever, and without letting Alya have the chance to question why we couldn't talk about this in front of her, I grabbed the boys' wrists and pulled them towards one of the empty hallways.

When I was sure no one was around to listen in and checked to make sure Alya hadn't followed us, I let go of their wrists and took a deep breath before turning to face them.

"Okay. _Please_ tell me you guys know about the chinday."

Adrien and Jasper both frowned, confused, and Jasper flipped to a blank page before writing something down. "...Which one?"

I groaned to the ceiling, wanting to reach up and tug my hair out of frustration. "Why can't this be easy?"

"You okay, Marinette?" Adrien asked worriedly, placing a hand on my shoulder and nearly causing me to- _no! Bad Marinette! Focus!_

"I'm okay." I said softly, smiling at him reassuringly. I took his hand in my own and removed it from my shoulder, holding it in my own as I took a step back.  "Do you guys really not remember anything about the transportation Chinday?"

"Transportation?" Jasper mouthed, lowering his gaze to the ground and frowning at it. He shook his head a moment later as Adrien also said he didn't know what I was talking about.

"It was a chinday that could transport place to place. It was weird though, because it wasn't...  transporting people around to different places. It was like it was transporting them somewhere else."

"What do you mean...?" Adrien asked, and I sighed, biting my thumbnail as I tried to figure out just where the Chinday had transported me to.

"It's like.... like it was transporting them to..." I gasped, eyes widening as I realized just what the Cinday did. "A different reality!" I nearly shouted, grabbing Adrien's shoulders in my enthusiasm. "It sends them to a different reality! A dream world, even!" Adrien and Jasper didn't respond the way I had hoped, instead looking at each other in worried confusion before looking at me again.

"We never fought a chinday like that." Adrien said softly, and I tried not to whine in frustration.

"But we _did_! Or I did. I don't know!" I threw my hands in the air, starting to pace. "We had been fighting it, and it had snarled something about needing only Jasper before snapping her fingers, and when I woke up I was here and no one remembered anything!"

"Mari, hold on for a minute, okay? Just calm down." Adrien's heave- _gentle, Marinette, gentle-_   voice broke through the whir of thoughts in my head, his warm hand being placed on my shoulder and emerald eyes making my mind go blank.  _He's so pretty...._

"Are you sure that wasn't just a dream?" Adrien asked softly, and I almost didn't hear it properly, like a fog had settled over my mind as I looked into his eyes.

"Huh?" I mumbled, before gasping as I snapped out of my daydream. "Oh! Right! No, I-" I paused, the past 24 hours suddenly seeming rather foggy in my mind instead of sharp and clear. "I..." I scrambled for the memories, but they slipped away and disappeared like smoke, "I... I guess it was...." I admitted after a moment, an uncomfortable ball of nervousness appearing for only a second before Adrien was lightly hooking his arm over my shoulder and pulling me close, saying something about Anamaqkiu and her chindays. The ball of nervousness disappeared, and I relaxed into his touch.

_Yeah.... It was just a dream._

\-----

Thunder crashed outside the school, startling  everyone. It was study hall, and Alya, Jasper and I met up in Jasper's study hall classroom to work on our new math homework.

 Some of us leaned back in our seats to look outside as the storm suddenly swelled, but Jasper pulled his jacket's hood up and over his head, trying to hide the subtle shivers that ran through his body for the briefest moment as lightning flashed outside and thunder followed close after. It made my heart ache a little bit.

It was always odd, seeing Jasper so nervous like this. In the two years that I've known him, he had started becoming more confident in himself and less panicked every time something that reminded him of his near-death experience, and Wolven was almost completely fearless- stupidly so. I think it had helped that he had someone who didn't react badly to seeing his scars on his neck, like Adrien and I. He still experienced flashes of memories and panic whenever someone touched his neck or there was a bad storm going on, but he had gotten far better than the first time he'd panicked in front of us.

Since I was sitting next to him, I made sure my hand was in his line of sight for a moment before lightly setting it on his shoulder and giving a small squeeze. He was trembling a little bit, but he gave me a grateful smile before looking back at his paper. I lowered my hand a moment later and went back to work.

Thunder crashed again and Jasper jumped, his hand gripping his pencil so tight his knuckles nearly turned white. I heard Neeks let out a faint whine from where he was hidden in Jasper's scarf, probably distressed that he couldn't help comfort his chosen, and I exchanged a glance with Alya.

"You okay, Jasper?" Alya asked softly from across Jasper, reaching over and giving his hand a small squeeze. Jasper nodded meekly, looking down and hiding his face beneath his hood and hair even further. We all watched him carefully, helping him calm down a little bit further with each clap of thunder.

Eventually the thunder and lightning disappeared, but the rain didn't let up in the slightest. The final bell rang about 20 minutes later, and we packed up our things. Oddly enough, Jasper didn't wait like he normally did, instead nearly throwing his things into his bag, giving us a wave, and running out of the classroom like he was on fire.

"..That was a little weird." Alya commented, frowning slightly. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He'll be fine, I'm sure." I said with a small smile, although I wasn't entirely sure myself. We walked to the front of the school, stopping just under the small awning over the entrance. Jasper had slowed down quite a bit, now walking calmly through the rain- no umbrella or hood over his head to shield him from the torrent of rain.

"Hey Marinette, Alya." Adrien said, and I nearly jumped ten feet in the air, random stutters flying from my lips without even realizing it.

Adrien laughed lightly, motioning to the umbrella in his hand. "Want me to walk you home, Princess?"

A blush rose to my cheeks and I giggled shyly, rubbing the back of my head. As much as I'd love to walk home sharing an umbrella with, sigh, _Adrien_ , something was telling me that it wouldn't be right with Jasper looking so incredibly lonely as he made his way down the street.

"O-Oh, I'd- I'd love that, Adrien, really, but I've got an umbrella with me, too." I said,  before pointing to Jasper. "He looks like he could use the company though." Adrien frowned slightly, eyes following where I was pointing before widening slightly.

"What's he thinking, not even covering his head with his jacket?" Adrien asked under his breath, before giving Alya and I a smile and running over to Jasper. He made himself known by putting the umbrella over Jasper's head, and the two exchanged words I couldn't hear.

(Note: This was one of the older drawings.... Not the best)

Even from here, I could see how tension eased away from Jasper's shoulders and he gave Adrien a small smile like he was the world, although his eyes were sad and resigned, and it made my stomach twist into something ugly. I stomped it down quickly, not sure why I was feeling so upset over Jasper being so close to Adrien. They were friends. I was the one dating Adrien.

"Wow, you passed up a chance to let Adrien walk you home?" Alya said with a mock gasp as Jasper and Adrien started in the same direction I would eventually be going. "Are you okay?"

I gave Alya a glare, puffing up my cheeks and pouting at her. "I do things like that all the time!"

Alya laughed, ruffling my hair. "Yes, yes. I know, I'm just teasing." She said calmly, a small laugh still in her voice. "It _was_ nice of you to do. Adrien's really good at getting Jasper to be happy again."

I nodded, the jealous starting to rise again before I stamped it out. They really _did_ look nice together... and it looked so familiar to see, too.

"I think it helps that they both have a rough idea what it's like." I said after a moment, staring at the path they had long since disappeared down. "Adrien's home life isn't the best, and Jasper's was pretty bad for a while..."

Alya nodded, patting my shoulder, and we started down the steps to head home.

\----

"Go right!" Wolven shouted, voice a little gruff as a growl tore itself from his throat while dodging a sticky glob of tar tossed by this blob of a Chinday.

I did as told, managing to dodge an attack while I did so. Chat used his staff to avoid a ball of tar himself, using momentum to swing himself around and slam his foot into the Chinday's side.  I wrapped the chinday up with my yoyo and Chat knocked its feet out from under it, causing it to fall to the ground. Wolven let out a jaguar's roar and jumped onto the Chinday as it was falling, flipping over it and bringing the Chinday along with him to expose its back.

"Cataclysm!" Chat shouted, and the dark power gathered in his hand before he shoved his hand into the Chinday's back. The Chinday writhed and shrieked, making all three of us cringe as Wolven and I tightened our holds on them. "Ugh, where... Ah-hah!" Chat grinned as he found the Chinday's center, destroying it easily. The chinday let out one final shriek before it melted away like all the others, and the three of us stayed where we were for a few minutes to make sure nothing else was about to happen.

When it was safe, we all let out a collective laugh, walking over to each other.

"Great job, guys!" I cheered, and the three of us did a big group high five, laughing happily. Once again, we kept the city and Jasper safe from Anamaqkiu and her chindays!

"One step closer to getting to Anamaqkiu, right?" Wolven said with a small laugh, and Chat and I nodded in agreement.

"I think this calls for a cele _purr_ ation." Chat purred, leaning in close to me and giving me a flirty smile. My heart swelled as I laughed, blushing, and pushed him away playfully.

"Silly kitty! Not now!" I said with a giggle, nearly missing how Wolven's smile turned pained for a moment and eyes filled with confusion while his ears and tail seemed to droop. It made something in the back of my mind flicker to life, and I suddenly felt really bad about flirting with Chat like this.

Why though? He and I were dating, so it was fair game, wasn't it?

Chat's ring beeped, and he looked down at it with a pout. "Well, I've got to go! See you guys later!" He said, giving the two of us a grin and a wave before he went running off to change back away from prying eyes.

"I should go, too. See you later." The excitement had drained from Wolven's voice, even as he tried to keep it there, and he offered me an almost pitiful wave before bounding off in his own direction. I stood there in the street, staring dumbly at where he had gone.

Why did it feel like something was wrong with this scenario?

\-----  
A few days later, I was doing my solo patrol when I noticed the briefest flash of a white tail in the otherwise dark streets. "Wolven?" I murmured, worry and confusion swelling up in me as I went in that direction. I followed the small flashes of white tail each time he rounded the corner, never quite able to catch up to him even though I'd try. He must have been using some part of his ability to always stay out of reach, but what?

After turning the next corner, I barely held back a gasp. Wolven had disappeared.

My guard went up instantly, and I looked around for any sign of danger. The confusion I was feeling only grew when no one appeared. Everything was silent, almost scarily so.

It was then that I caught the faint sound of someone talking further down the street, in one of the alleys. I quietly but quickly made my way over, peeking around the corner. Wolven was there, running his hands agitatedly through his hair and pacing back in forth. He was wearing civilian clothes, oddly enough. I guess Neeks thought that would be better for whatever Jasper was doing.

"....I don't get it." Wolven hissed quietly, frustration clear in his voice. "I don't get this at all, Neeks." He sounded like he was on the verge of tears as he leaned his back against the wall. "I was _fine_ with it until earlier today." He murmured, and I knew I shouldn't be listening in, felt it tugging at the back of conscious, but my feet stayed glued to the ground as Wolven took a shaky breath and turned his face to the sky, like it might help find an answer to his problems. He was quiet for a while, and I was debating if I should go over to him and make sure, when he suddenly let out a broken-hearted scream- or maybe _wail_ was the more appropriate word- that had him doubling over.

It made my heart hurt.

"Damn it!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, sobs starting to leave him. "Damn it, I shouldn't be thinking like this!" He slumped against the wall, still hiding his face behind his hands, but I was sure that he was crying now. 

"She won fair and square and I accepted it, so why does it hurt?" He sobbed to no one, sliding down the wall until he was crouching and burying his head in his knees. "Why can't I let go of it like I did before?"

I could only stare at Wolven, his frame backlit by the moon and looking so small in the looming frame of the buildings surrounding him, and realized this was very, very wrong.

I quickly slipped away, heading back home as a headache built up just behind my temple. I canceled the transformation and sat on my bed, rubbing my temples. What was I missing here? Why did I feel like- I gasped, memories suddenly returning to me full force.

That's right, that _time chinday!_

"How could I have forgotten that?!" I gasped, eyes growing wide as I shot back up from my bed. "Tikki!"

"What is it, Marinette? Are you okay?" Tikki asked, flying up to my face from where she had been sitting beside me. I shook my head.

"Everything is not okay! I screwed up, Tikki! I screwed up, _bad_!" Without giving her any explanation, I transformed and went running back to where Wolven would hopefully still be. "Wolven!" I cried out when I found him still there, and he yelped from shock, nearly falling over.

"L-Ladybug?!" He asked, his outfit changing into his regular- no, wait, when did it change?- outfit as he hopped to his feet. "What's wrong?!"

"You're supposed to be dating Chat Noir, not me!" I said quickly, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I totally got swept up in that time chinday's illusion! You and Chat are supposed to be dating!" Wolven's red-rimmed eyes showed a very high level of skeptism, but I could see a flicker of something familiar worming its way to the surface.

With that in mind, I grabbed his hand and made my way to Adrien's house. "Okay, I think I know how to get you guys to remember, and then we've got a Chinday we need to defeat!"

"Huh?" Wolven croaked, yelping as I pulled him away. In no time at all, we made out way to Adrien's house, and Plagg woke Adrien up  so we could be let in.

"Jasper? Marinette? What's going on?" Adrien asked, and I took a deep breath. Hopefully this worked.

"Lucky charm!" I tossed my yoyo into the air, catching a video camera a moment later. Hope swelled in my chest as I opened it, turning it on and going to the save files section. I laughed happily. "Yes! It worked! Oh, it worked!" I cheered, running over to Adrien's computer and connecting the camera to it so they could see the videos.

"Marinette, are you okay?" Wolven asked softly, and I know I was probably scaring the two a little bit but I was rushing on adrenaline, afraid that if I let it wear away that I'd be pulled back under the Chinday's spell.

"Just watch this, please. It'll make sense soon." I explained in the most reassuring ton I could give them, before starting up the video.


	22. All We See Is Sky (Video, Part 2)

"Jasper?"

A tired whine came from within the dark room, a hand slipping from beneath the covers to turn on the lamp beside the bed. "Adrien?" Neeks responded for his chosen, sitting up from his own little bed. Jasper pushed himself up from the bed, shee staring at his pillow for a moment before shaking his head and flipping over so he was looking at Adrien.

Adrien stood by Jasper's window, smiling sheepishly as he canceled his transformation. "Can I stay the night?" He asked softly, Plagg quickly flying over to settle beside Neeks. "The house is..."

Jasper held up a hand to stop Adrien from continuing, smiling softly and patting the bed next to him. Adrien smiled brightly, rushing over and joining him in the bed.  Jasper wrapped his arms around Adrien, running his hand lightly through his hair. It was soft, recently washed, and Jasper briefly wondered just how long Adrien had sat there in that shell of a home, in that cage of a room surrounded by signs all pointing to his dad being Hawkmoth, and through Jasper's sleep-addled mind,  he felt guilty.

He forgot that Gorilla and Nathalie wouldn't stay the entire night, and should have offered Adrien to spend the night.

"'M sorry... for not askin' earlier..." Jasper mumbled weakly, cringing at the sound of his own voice as it tore through his scarred vocal cords as no more than a squeaky whisper.

Adrien frowned, lifting his head from its place on Jasper's shoulder. "Okay, two things." He said softly, reaching up and brushing Jasper's hair from his face. "One: Don't talk again, that sounded absolutely painful for your throat and I really don't want you to hurt yourself. Two: It's fine. I thought I'd be fine, too."

Jasper pouted at the small scolding but nodded before giving Adrien a small nuzzle. Adrien laughed softly and after hesitating a moment, kissed Jasper's forehead. "Let's just go to sleep... okay?" Jasper nodded in agreement, the dark hiding his blush from view.

After the two got comfy, they fell asleep only to be found by Mitzi later that morning.

"Noel!" She whispered loudly, closing the door in hopes the boys didn't hear. "Astrid! Someone bring me a camera, quick!"

Noel came walking over with Astrid close behind a moment later, an eyebrow raised and smile amused as he handed Jasper's mom the camera. "What's so important you need the camera?" He asked with a small laugh, and Mitzi grinned impishly before opening the door, showing them the two boys still sleeping.

Mitzi giggled, creeping closer to the bed to take pictures while Astrid and Noel stared first in amusement, then confusion.

"Mitzi...? How did Adrien get in here?"

\-----

"Chat! Chat, put me down this instant!" Wolven laughed, lightly swatting at Chat Noir's chest. Chat shook his head, laughing as well as he carried him bridal style towards the pool.

"No way. I got soaked earlier, so now it's your turn!"

"Wait! That wasn't my fault!" Wolven's voice was broken with laughter, lightly pushing against Chat's chest in a rather loose attempt to free himself. Chat grinned at him, eyes twinkling with mirth. "Sorry. It's only fair. You were the only one to come out completely dry, after all."

Wolven looked to Ladybug or Alya for help, but Alya was recording everything with her phone, and Ladybug was watching with pure amusement on her face as her hair clung to her forehead and suit due to the water. "Ladybug, Alya! Help me!"

"Have fun, Wolven!" Alya said happily as Chat Noir kept walking. Wolven looked to Ladybug, but she simply waved.

"Traitors!" Wolven cried out, but the smile never left his face.

Adrien walked closer to the hotel roof's pool, and Wolven gasped. "Nonono, hold on! Hold on!" He laughed, hands gripping Chat's shoulders tightly. "You wouldn't really drop me in, would you?" Wolven asked, pressing close to him and letting his ears flatten mostly against his head, pouting and giving him the best puppy dog face he could as he was carried to the deep end.

Chat stopped when he stood at the very edge, looked Wolven dead in the eye, and with a totally straight face, said,

"Long Live the King."

Right before he dropped him.

Wolven yelped as he fell into the water, creating a large splash that missed Chat Noir  by a hair. The wolf superhero took a deep breath when his head popped back up, treading water as he glared playfully at his boyfriend from behind a blanket of wet, white hair before shaking his head like a dog. It didn't help much.

"I could break into song," Wolven stated, pointing to the air, "but I won't. Traitor!" He shouted traitor as he pointed at Chat, making the three teens standing at the side of the pool laugh. Wolven huffed, motioning for Chat to help pull him up. The cat hero bent down, offering his hand, and  Wolven grabbed his wrist.

The wolf superhero grinned mischievously at Chat, and it was incredibly to  see the moment he recognized he made a huge mistake flash in his eyes as Wolven yanked him into the water as well.

Chat Noir let out his own yelp as he splashed into the water, resurfacing a moment later and doing what Wolven had to try and get his hair out of his face. "Why didn't I see that coming?"

Wolven shrugged, grinning at him innocently. "I don't know."

He scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes and splashing at Wolven. Wolven laughed, holding a hand up to block water from getting in his eyes.

Ladybug and Alya were both laughing at the side of the pool, and the boys half-heartedly splashed at them in return before pulling themselves out. Wolven hummed faintly as he lifted himself from the water, sprawling out across the sun-warmed rock a moment later. Chat got out as well and stole a kiss from Wolven before standing up completely.

\----

At first, there was only silence.

Not even the birds were awake as they slept through the early morning of the first snow fall, the snow almost magical and ethereal. Verrière forest was peaceful, for a while longer at least.

Soft giggles fluttered on a breeze, and two of Paris' heroes appeared through the foliage. Both heroes blended well with the surrounding area; Chat Noir in the darkness and Wolven in the snow. They were playing a game of chase, it seemed, and being careful about it, too. They didn't disturb more snow than where they stepped, and were being careful not to break the magical air.

What they were doing couldn't quite be considered a game of chase, though. Chat Noir was constantly catching Wolven, taking his hand and spinning him or pulling him close for a dance move of some kind, or giving him a loving kiss.

Wolven would press close to Chat Noir as they danced or kissed, but after a few moments he would slip away again, and the chase was back on.

They were careful to avoid the river, not wanting to risk someone falling in. They ran through the forest and danced through the grove of trees. Wolven let out a soft gasp of surprise as he was caught around the waist by Chat Noir and suddenly his back was in the snow, the two heroes laughing as they began to roll around in the snow. They continued on like that for a while, playing and exchanging kisses as the forest began to grow light and began to wake up around the two of them.


	23. Alternate: Make The Clock Reverse (Marinette, Part 3)

The video was.... more intimate, than I had expected.  I wondered where Lucky Charm had found the  memories I didn't know, wondered why it chose those few moments to show them. To the inexperienced eye, these would have almost come across as... friends at best. Light teasing, a close relationship, but romantic? Probably not.

I could see the emotions swelling between the two in the video as clear as day, though. It was private and magical, enough so that at one point I had looked away and felt a deep sense of longing and contentment, all at the same time.

The video continued to play, the scene shifting once more. It had just started playing when the first of the boys reacted.

Wolven flinched, lifting a hand to his head. He looked like he was in pain, covering an eye with his hand as if to soothe a headache and teeth gritted as he let out a low hiss.  "Jasper?" I asked softly, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"My head hurts...." He murmured, wincing again for a moment. He curled in on himself even further for a moment before he gasped, quickly straightening up again and looking at the two of us with wide eyes. "We need to stop that chinday!"

I sighed in relief that at least one of them realized what was going on again, nodding quickly.

"I... what...?" Adrien's confused voice nearly squeaked, and I turned back to him. He was staring at the screen, watching as he and Jasper snuck through the halls at lunch to find a quiet spot to be cuddly without fear of being caught. He looked at us, and I felt my heart ache at the look he was wearing. He looked like a lost puppy.

Wolven let out a sad whine, hesitantly stepping forward and gnawing on his lip. "Okay..." He breathed, but judging by the volume it was meant mostly for himself. "Okay," He took a deep breath, looking up at Adrien far shyer than I'd ever seen him. His ears were turned down, and he was looking up at Adrien from beneath his bangs. "Okay, Adrien, I-I don't know how you'll react to this at first, but I just need to do this, okay? If it worked on me, it should work on you..."

"What should?" Adrien asked, still confused but his cheeks were a bright red now, and I couldn't blame him- Wolven looked adorable right now, all shy and nervous.

Instead of explaining further, Wolven placed his hands on Adrien's shoulder and rocked himself onto his heels, kissing Adrien. I quickly looked away, blushing myself now and placing a hand over my mouth in embarrassment.

Adrien let out a noise of surprise before falling silent, and I kept my eyes planted firmly on one of the arcade games in his room.

"...Whoa." Adrien whispered a few moments later, and I looked back over. Both boys were blushing now, which only made _me_ blush as well, and they were looking away from each other shyly. Adrien had his fingers on his lips and Wolven was rubbing the back of his neck, and the embarrassment and tension in the room was so thick I didn't even want to know what _kind_ of tension it was.

"Okay. Do you remember?" I asked quickly, and Adrien nodded just as quick, everyone snapping out of the lull.

"Hurry and transform- we need to find that chinday and fast."

"Right! Plagg, claws out!"

Adrien transformed, and the three of them left Adrien's room. "Should we split up?" Wolven asked, and I bit my lip.

"No, I think we should stay together. We can't let her-" I gasped, eyes widening from surprise as my earrings beep. "Shoot!"

I stopped running along the rooftops, the boys stopping a moment later. "I need to get Tikki recharged. You guys go on ahead and call me the moment you find the chinday. I'll be back as soon as I can!"

They nodded and went bounding off while I dropped down into an alley and detransformed. I caught Tikki, smiling nervously at her while I grabbed cookies from my purse. I had started packing them after a few too many mid-battle detransformations, and I was incredibly glad to have them on me. I didn't want to stay separated from the others any longer than necessary now. We've already spent far too long in this illusion world thanks to my stupidity.

Tikki gladly ate a couple of the cookies, sighing happily as she ate before giving me a big thumbs up.

I transformed back and flipped open my yoyo, sighing in relief when I saw they were still nearby via the tracking system. A pawprint with long claws and a slightly different pad shape to Chat Noir's appeared on the screen not even as second later, blinking and ringing rapidly.

They had also found the chinday.

I answered the call, smiling down at Wolven. "On my way!"

He sighed in relief, nodding. "Good! Because she's already attacking and we could use the help!" As he spoke, Chat Noir appeared behind him in the air, yelping as he fell back down onto the roof. Wolven muttered something under his breath, frowning at something off camera before turning around and shouting if Chat Noir was okay. 

I chuckled when Chat Noir shouted back that he was fine, ended the call, and followed their signals to the Seine, where they were both getting transported around like rag dolls. The Chinday seemed far angrier than she had the last time I saw her, using her ability to keep Wolven and Chat Noir away so much that she was visible _seething_ as they came back.

The Chinday shrieked, stomping her foot in the air childishly as I came into her line of sight. "Ugh! Not you, too! Don't you ever stay down, you pests?!"

"If you want M'Ladybug to go away, you're going to need _lots_ of insecticide!" Chat Noir hummed happily as he came bounding back over. Cheekily, he grabbed my hand and gave it a quick kiss before I pulled it back, rolling my eyes. "Seriously kitty, you have a boyfriend. No flirting!"

"Oh, I know." Chat Noir chuckled, nearly preening at the mention of Wolven. "And he's the best."

"But you are still our magnificent Ladybug!" Wolven added, leaping down from the lamppost he had been standing on, grinning, "So you deserve the special attention." He chuckled, winking teasingly. I blushed anyway, rolling my eyes again. I didn't need special attention, no matter what they said. "Which is why," Wolven continued, grinning and showing off his fangs, "I think you should be the one to teach this chinday a lesson, don't you, Chat Noir?"

Chat Noir nodded, grinning and twirling his staff around his hand. "Definitely."

As if on cue, Chat Noir grabbed my wrist while Wolven bowed, leaping back onto the lamppost while activating his ability, and I immediately figured out what they were planning. I grinned, running as Chat spun me around a few times to help pick up speed before he threw me towards Wolven. I threw my yoyo towards him and he grabbed it with ease, spinning around quickly before throwing me at the Chinday.

 I threw the yoyo at the Chinday, smirking as she yelped and got trapped in the string. She screeched as I drew up close to her, knocking her down to the ground as gravity took hold. We landed on the ground with a loud thud, my teeth clashing together and knees aching from the impact. The Chinday screamed bloody murder, thrashing underneath me.

"DAMN YOU AND THAT STUPID SPIRIT!" She shrieked, looking at Wolven as he and Chat Noir came over. "HOW DID YOU BECOME SO BUDDY-BUDDY WITH THEM?! YOU _HATE_ EACH OTHER!!"  

Wolven frowned, looking as confused as I felt. What did she mean spirit? Was she talking about the kwamis? "I have no idea what you're talking about." Wolven stated simply, his ears pulling back against his head as the Chinday screeched again.

"Like _hell_ you don't! It's because of _him_ that you three have even gotten this far!" She snarled, "He's been keeping me from having my fun!"

"Who has?" I asked, but before she could answer, Wolven let out a shout of pain.

I whipped my gaze over to him, eyes widening when I saw a patch of crimson starting to form on his shirt.

"Wolven?!" Chat Noir and I both shouted, and he looked from the bloody patch to us, panicked and confused.

The Chinday beneath me chuckled darkly, "Oh, good~ Looks like even with this setback I've been able to do what I need." She hummed, cackling as Chat growled at her.

Wolven's red eye suddenly turned into a blue matching his other eye, and the confusion in his expression disappeared just slightly. "Ladybug, her hand! The core is in her hand!"

I nodded, snatching her hands and holding them up for Chat. "Use your claws to cut her skin, quick!"

Without being told twice, Chat used the claws on his suit to slash the Chinday's palms. The chinday screeched, but I dug my fingers into the cuts on both hands until I could pull out the her core and smash it on the ground. 

The chinday screamed again, the sound echoing through the air as the body beneath me disappeared and the ground opened up beneath our feet.

\----

When I opened my eyes again, panicked shouts and a maniacal laugh quickly reached my ears.

"Hey Anamaqkiu! I did it~! I finally killed Little Wolfy for you~!" The chinday laughed, sounding far crazier than she had in the illusion world. "He's dead, he's dead, Little Wolfy is dead~!"

I sat up quickly, taking stock of where I was and who was around. It seemed like barely any time had passed at all since we had confronted the Chinday, Chat Noir, Wovlen and I all laying on the ground like we had collapsed. The boys groaned as they started waking up, but instead of sitting up like Chat did, Wolven grabbed wrapped his arms around himself and curled up onto his side, whimpering.

"Wolven!" Chat Noir gasped, scrambling over to Wolve and gently pulling Wolven's hands away. "Oh, no.... Wolfie, can you still fight?"

The Chinday gasped; a small sound that was far too innocent compared to before. "Aw~ Is the poor wittle wolfie hurt?" She asked, changing her words to sound like she was talking to a baby or a dog and placing her hands on her knees. I growled at her, leaping to my feet and letting my yoyo fly. The Chinday teleported out of the way with a loud cackle, and I immediately started chasing after her while Chat Noir helped get Wolven back on his feet.

"Now that he can't help you, you can't touch me~!" The Chinday sang, sounding like she was slipping further into hysteria the more she teleported. We must have weakened her by defeating the illusion worlds, since she was only teleporting a couple feet at a time, now.

I looked around, trying to find something to grab and knock her into. Spotting the perfect thing, I smirked. "I may not be able to hit you myself," I declared, swinging my yoyo and letting it wrap around the cardboard display my parents had outside their bakery for the winter, "But this definitely can!"

"Huh? Ah!" The chinday screamed as the cardboard cutout slammed into her, knocking her back down to the ground, Before she could do much else I wrapped her tightly in the yoyo's string and pulled her closed, straddling her again as I grabbed the hand with the pocket watch center.

The Chinday laughed crazily, not even fighting my hold on her. "You three were lucky, this time! If those gods had just stayed where they were meant to, Little Wolfie would be dead, and Anamaqkiu would have won!"

"Shut up!" I snapped, calling Chat Noir on our communicators. It rang only once before Chat Noir was answering, a relieved look on his face and a shock of white hair and wolf ear on his shoulder. "Chat Noir, I need you two over here, quick. I've got her down for now, but I can't get to her center without one of you cutting her open."

"We'll be right there." Chat Noir promised, "And you won't believe what just happened!" The call ended, and a few minutes later Wolven was running into the area with Chat  Noir in his arms, looking like he hadn't been hurt at all as he put Chat Noir back on his feet.

Chat Noir walked over, kneeling to slice open the chinday's palm.

"She'll win eventually, you bratty little heroes, she always wins!" The chinday cackled as I began to dig around in her cuts to find the pocket watch. "The Rabbit and Spirit won't always be there to help you!"

"Rabbit? There's no rabbit miraculous!" Chat Noir stated, and the Chinday laughed.

"Who said I was talking about a miraculous?" She asked darkly, the hands of her clock head forming a creepy smile as I pulled out the pocket watch, destroyed it, and she turned to dust.

The three if us were quiet, staring at the pile of ash as I got back to my feet and people started reappearing all around us.

"What do you think that means?" Wolven asked, pulling my attention to him.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Until then; what happened to you?"

Chat Noir gasped, bounding over to be beside Wolven as he slung an arm over his shoulder. "You'll never believe what happened! He glowed for a few minutes and then the hole in his side just magically closed up!"

Wolven chuckled, nodding a bit. "Yeah, and then my timer beads flickered and blipped about 3 times in quick succession- I actually _really_ need to go."

I gasped, remembering I was supposed to be helping my parents at the bakery today. "Shoot! I do, too!"

"See you later!" We all said, almost at the exact same time with matching grins, and I turned and headed back home, ducking into an alleyway and de-transforming. I caught Tikki in my hands, noticing the sour expression that looked ugly on her.

"Tikki?"

A few moments of silence, and then Tikki was sighing, crossing her arms over her chest. "Neeks better be thinking about telling soon. Too many things we can't keep secrets are starting to come to the surface."

"What do you mean?" I asked, and Tikki shook her head.

"I wish I could say, Marinette, but it's something Neeks needs to tell all of you on his own. All I can say is that things just got a lot more...." Tikki trailed off, frowning as she tried to think of what she wanted to say. "Complicated," She decided, nodding once, "and that means if he keeps you in the dark any longer, Jasper might just die in one of the next few fights."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh I'M SORRY THIS CHAPTER SUCKS I've been fighting writer's block for this chapter for so long I kid you not. But it's here now so yay! I also have a Christmas Special to write and post, but that's coming late because my dad has just temporarily banned me from my laptop as a precaution against some type of muscle stress in my wrist because I said it ached a lot today and literally EVERYTHING I do is on this laptop.
> 
> Tomorrow I should have a cute little picture for you guys to see, and if you're still around after the crazy long wait I thank you a thousand times! Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza/Hanukkah/ whatever you celebrate, and see you again soon! Sorry again for the long wait!


	24. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hey guys!

I don't know how many of you still read this story, or will even read this, but I wanted to thank all of you for staying with me even though I've been such an unreliable author lately. I've been so focused on work that all my stories have either slowed or come to a standstill in their progress, and because I want to get you guys a chapter so much I end up making promises I can't keep. I'm so sorry. You guys deserve better, you really do. I'm so incredibly overwhelmed with guilt because I've left all of you with month long waits for chapters I can't even get a chance to properly start.  Well today, a little over a year since Without the Mask was first published here on Wattpad, I vow to change that.

I'm tired of feeling guilty, tired of seeing all of you left wanting for more and not being able to get it because of my own incompetence. So today I declared that I have set up a writing schedule, and that I will do my absolute best to push through the tougher part of chapters and make you chapters that you all deserve to read. All of us want to see this story reach it's conclusion, and even see Plagg and Neeks' side of it once this is done. All of us love this story, and I can't stand to see it dying any longer.

Thank you so much for staying with me this far. I hope I won't disappoint you.

Happy Valentine's day, everyone.

 

 

Bonus Photo (Jasper and Adrien along with Ashton and Kenny from my story More Than Survive on AO3):

 


	25. OT3 Or No?

Hey guys before I post the new chapter I have a question you can answer here or on Twitter (@BeneathTreeMoMo, the pinned tweet on my profile) 

If I were to incorporate Luka into the story, would you guys prefer he become apart of an eventual ot3 with Adrien and Jasper, OR would you prefer he be super platonic and one of those friends Jasper would literally die for?

So let me know, either on Twitter or down in the comments! Let's say.... write Lukadripser for polyamory, or Jasper & Luka for friends? Or just, y'know, write polyamory or platonic or whatever you'd like XD

Next chapter will be arriving soon!


	26. From Now On

Getting home after the Chinday attack involved a lot of scolding from Nathalie, and a _lot_ of scolding from my mother after Nathalie told her what happened. I would have felt about a thousand times more guilty and embarrassed over it, though, if my mom hadn't gotten a look in her eyes that said she had far more questions than answers and was trying to figure it out even as she scolded me.

"Why is it that you always seem to be getting caught by these creatures?" Mom asked, running her hands through her hair. "You should be running to hide, not let them grab you..."

"Sorry," I wrote, smiling sheepishly at her. Mom simply rolled her eyes, sighing again as she paced back and forth.

Mom sighed again, suddenly stopping and staring at the ground for a few minutes before turning her gaze to me. The look in her eyes had me turning nervous; she looked like she was trying to figure something out.

My hand itched to reach up for my scarf and adjust it, simply to hide any sign of Neeks that might be showing, but I didn't want to seem somehow suspicious. Mom walked over, an almost desperate look on her face as she carefully picked up the arrowhead, studying it carefully. "You changed your necklace when you were gone?" She asked softly, frowning down at the accessory.

I smiled, hoping it didn't look as nervous as it felt, and nodded. "Yeah," I wrote, "Adrien gave me it as an early birthday present. I mean, it is in a couple of weeks and he has to go on a trip with his father for work."

"I-I guess..." Mom sighed, dropping the necklace and looking away after a moment. She bit her lip, looking back at me again. She looked like she wanted to say something, and her eyes were beginning to gloss over with tears.

"Mom?"

Mom gulped, turning her back towards me as she let out a shaky breath. My heart ached a little, and I placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention towards me. She looked at me, tears starting to brim in her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Remember the day you woke up, after the incident with your father?"

I tensed, biting the inside of my cheek. Slowly, I nodded. Of course I remembered; mom had looked so scared.

"We promised to never keep secrets from each other. To always protect each other... Right?" Mom continued, taking another shaking breath. "I-I saw something, when I got sucked into one of those worlds that Chinday had created."

My heart nearly stopped beating, the memory of my mom catching me transform in the Chinday's world coming to mind. Mom continued, taking my silence as an okay.

"We- We were a happy family again, with your father, and we had gone on a road trip to one of the Native American cemeteries nearby... you had been acting strange, so I went after you when you ran off, and--" She cut off, whirling to face me completely. She placed her hands on my shoulders, looking a little frantic. "I need you to be completely honest with me, Jasper. Are you Wolven?"

I gulped, not sure what to say or do. I couldn't keep lying to her after this, could I? I spotted Neeks out of the corner of my eye, flying behind mom. His ears were drooping a little and he shrugged, before clearing his throat.

"Um... Ms. Wells?"

Mom shrieked, whirling around again to see Neeks floating there in front of her.  She leapt back with another yelp, and I grabbed her wrist, giving her a small, comforting smile.  Mom looked at me, eyes widening. "So- So you are...?"

"Ms. Wells, Jasper and I never wanted to hurt you, or break his promise." Neeks explained softly, "We just... We can't let anyone know. For safety reasons."

"What... _are_ you?" Mom asked softly, eyes wide but not afraid. Neeks gave her a strained smile.

"Well, long story short, I'm a kwami. I give Jasper his powers and fix up his scars; Ladybug and Chat Noir have ones as well, although theirs don't heal any old wounds I'm afraid."

"Huh," Mom croaked, mouth slightly parted from shock. "So-- So you..." She turned to look at me, pointing a shaky finger as she tried to form a coherent sentence through the whirling thoughts that were surely in her head.

I smiled sheepishly, shrugging and nodding at her unspoken questions.  Mom gulped, looking back at Neeks. She seemed to run through a few more thoughts in her head as she took a deep breath, steeling her expression.

"Why?" She asked as calmly as she could, although her voice still wavered. Neeks' ears flattened even further, and he looked panicked for a moment. Mom took another deep breath, steeling herself even further. "Why did you chose my son? Out of _all_ the people out there. Why did you chose _my son_ to be your wielder?"

The anger in Mom's voice stunned me; I'd never heard her like this before. It made sense, of course. I mean, who would want their child to be putting themselves in danger every day? I gave my mom's wrist a small squeeze, smiling at her in an attempt to tell her it was alright.

Neeks shrunk back from her gaze, mouth opening and closing as he tried to find the words. I smiled at him next, mouthing, "Just tell her what you told me," To him. Neeks gulped, twisting his paws around nervously.

"It's-- It's not like I _wanted_ to," Neeks began softly, quickly continuing when Mom seemed to only get angrier. "I'm tired of seeing my chosen die by Anamaqkiu's hands, so over a century ago I made a larger list of requirements than just 'we had to have a strong connection'. Jasper, as he grew up, started meeting every one of those requirements, and when he was younger I tried so hard to keep him from meeting the last one, but he did."

Neeks looked away, gulping. He was quiet for a while, thinking, and I debated stepping in to explain the rest to my mom or not. Before I could, though, Neeks continued forward.

"If I could, I would have left it alone. But I couldn't. I-I had to accept the contract's completion, and I had heard that Chat Noir and Ladybug had come back and I just-- I couldn't leave it be." Neeks admitted softly, "So I showed myself to Jasper. I helped him learn how to control his ability and tried to help him leave the shell he had pulled into." Neeks flew over to Mom, eyes wide and ears as far back as they could possibly go.

"Please, Ms. Wells, I didn't want to harm you and your family any more than the past has done for you. I only wished to help, and I truly thought that if we came here to France, Anamaqkiu wouldn't be able to follow us. I-I didn't mean to...." Neeks sunk down a bit, looking down at the floor. "I...I'm so sorry. I just wanted to help you and Jasper."

I could feel tears starting to prick my eyes, the sound of Neeks nearly being on the verge of tears and Mom's anger having drained into a sadness that had her eyes glossing over with tears.

I held out my hand for Neeks, who landed drearily on my hand. I tilted his chin up so we could make eye contact, smiling at him as I mouthed "Fangs bared," to him once again. Neeks nodded, flying into the necklace and transforming me into Wolven. Mom's eyes widened, her jaw dropping.

I smiled shyly at her, my heart pounding in my chest. "Mom," I began softly, and mom's breath hitched, eyes widening. "Don't be mad at Neeks. He really does want to help."

"I-I had always _thought_ you two were far too similar," She admitted, laughing wetly as tears finally began to fall. "Seeing that you're one in the same.... It's both a relief, and terrifying."

"I know it's scary, mom." I said softly, walking over and taking her hands in mine, "Neeks and I are scared, too. Each time Anamaqkiu creates a new Chinday, we're scared. But we aren't alone in this... Chat Noir, Ladybug; they're there to help protect me just like I protect them."

Mom sniffled, frowning a moment as she looked up at me through her eyelashes. "Speaking of Chat Noir.... What's going on there?"

For once I could feel heat rush up to my cheeks, and I cleared my throat as Mom gave a cocky smirk. "Mom, one thing at a time, please." I scolded, and Mom scoffed.

"Yeah, okay, but I'd rather find out my son is a cheater before my heart explodes from fear for his secret life he's been leading."

"Mom!"

"I'm serious here!"

"So am I!"

" _Jasper Lupine Wells-"_

"Okay, okay!" I said quickly, not wanting my mom to start scolding me. _Geez, I'll never understand how she can go from crying on second to focusing on something else not even a second later_ , I thought with a sigh. "I'm dating both, and they both know about each other." I said simply.

Mom chuckled, "Taking one from my book, are you? Are they okay with each other?"

I laughed softly, smiling and thinking about how that would go if Adrien _wasn't_ okay with his alter-ego. "You could say that." I hummed, and Mom let out another laugh.

"I take it you _three_ know what you're doing, then?"

"Trust me, we do." I hummed, smiling brightly at her.

Mom studied me a moment longer before humming thoughtfully and pulling me towards the couch. She nearly shoved me onto the couch, sitting beside me a moment later and resting her elbow on her knee.

"Alright, mister. Tell me everything you can about this little side job of yours, and don't miss anything. You're on thin ice."

My eyes widened; I hadn't been expecting her to accept all of this so quickly- or easily. Maybe she couldn't handle the guilt Neeks felt or something. "Are you sure?"

"Hit me with your best shot, sweetie."

\-----

"Wait, your mom _knows?!_ " Marinette shrieked. I laughed, nodding. Adiren frowned, pulling me even closer.

"Is that okay? I mean, she could get hurt!"

"From what I've heard, Anamaqkiu doesn't harm those precious to Neeks' chosen unless they stand in her way." Master Fu explained softly, eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Quite frankly, while I believe you should hide your identity from as many as possible, Neeks made the right decision."

"She saw us transform in the other reality," Neeks explained with a sigh, his tail flicking irritably as he enjoyed some treats with Plagg, Tikki, and Wayzz. "If she hadn't remembered anything, or been the mom from that world, then I would have had Jasper say no. But she saw, so we had to tell her the truth."

"She took it better than we thought she would," I supplied helpfully, tapping the bottom corner of the page to draw their attention to the message. "Although I think she thinks I'm dating two different people who both know and don't know about each other."

"That'll be interesting," Adrien sighed, a small smile on his face as he chuckled. "At least she won't think I'm jealous!"

I chuckled, tapping him lightly on the nose. We all fell silent for a moment, enjoying the company of the others, when Marinette softly spoke up again. "By the way, Jasper," She started, looking at me unsurely, "What happened to you in your vision? You've been saying there was something that you wanted to tell us?"

"Oh, that's me he's talking about." Neeks supplied helpfully, brushing his whiskers clean of any crumbs before flying over to an empty space at the table. "See, Alt. Control had sent us back to a time where the incident with Jasper never happened. His family was still whole, and I was still...." Neeks trailed off, looking away nervously.

"You were still crying," Plagg said softly, his ears flattening slightly. Tikki was silent, a small frown on her face.

Neeks nodded, clearing his throat as he turned back to them. "Anyway... The thing is, unlike the Chinese kwamis like Plagg, Tikki, and Wayzz, I'm not confined to a jewel when necessary. Simply put, I wander-"

"More like become a hermit," Tikki grumbled under her breath, to which Plagg hit her arm and glared.

"Okay, I do _both_." Neeks sighed, rolling his eyes. "But the point is, because I wander, I can't very well look like a tiny bobble-headed wolf."

Without another word, a brilliant crimson red light formed around Neeks, wrapping around him as he morphed into the man I had seen in front of the grave, ears and all. Plagg let out an admiring whistle, flying over to Neeks' shoulder and settling himself down on it.

"You're lookin' good, Neeks!" Plagg praised, patting my kwami's shoulder. Neeks looked away, clearing his throat and mumbling a small thank you. His cheeks seemed to become dusted with a very light dusting of pink, and I tried not to smile. It was cute seeing him be embarrassed, instead of sad.

I tilted my head back, chuckling when I saw that Adrien's jaw had dropped ever so slightly, while a glance to the side had confirmed that Marinette's jaw had nearly dropped to the ground.

"Y-You-- He-- Ne-- WHAT?!" Marinette shouted, pointing at Neeks. Neeks chuckled weakly, the pink on his cheeks darkening even further.

"Yeah... I have a human form."

Tikki flew up to be beside Marinette. "All of us do, technically!" She supplied cheerfully. " _Neeks_ is just the one who uses it most!"

  
"Tikki, _please_ stop stressing the nickname." Neeks sighed heavily, ear flicking in annoyance. "I get that you're upset but it is not yet time."

"You're already showing them part of who you are, just rip the bandaid off already!"

"If Neeks doesn't want to share he doesn't have to!" Plagg jumped in readily, his tail flicking irritably. "Just because _your_ still sore over--"

"Plagg, we're still all right here." Adrien supplied helpfully, catching the kwamis' attention again.

Tikki huffed, and Marinette lightly poked at her friend with a sigh. "Tikki, you told me to give people a chance, and to forgive others for past mistakes. Do I need to remind you to do the same?" Tikki pouted at her, sighing and crossing her arms over her chest as she mumbled something I couldn't pick up. Neeks gave another nervous chuckle, scratching at his cheek lightly.

Adrien hummed thoughtfully as he looked over Neeks new form, apparently assessing the information quietly. "So all of you have a human form?" He asked after a while. someda

"You betcha!" Plagg hummed, unwrapping a candy that Neeks had handed him and popping it into his mouth whole. "Why d'ya ask, Adrien?" He asked around a mouthful of butterscotch. Adrien let out a small sigh at his kwami's behavior, thinking over his question in his head for a few more minutes. With another, heavier sigh, Adrien shook his head.

"No, nevermind. I think I'll ask later, after I wrap my head around this a bit more."

"Suit yourself." Plagg hummed, before looking at me. "Thanks for feeding Neeks as often as you do, by the way. Dude looks healthier than I've seen him in centuries."

"Plagg!" Neeks hissed, eyes growing wide from embarrassment. "You make it sound as if my chosen never fed me!"

Plagg huffed, something in his eyes that had Adrien and I exchanging a glance. Something bad had happened in the past, and it was something that Neeks wanted to keep hidden until the time was right.

"You know, young wolf," Master Fu hummed, looking over at Neeks, "Your heart may be heavy with guilt and fear, but she only feeds off that. Some day the truth must come to light; wouldn't you prefer it happen by your own hands?"

Neeks looked lost as he looked at Master Fu, his ears flattening against his head.

Master Fu smiled knowingly, pouring a cup of tea and placing it in front of Neeks. "Hope and trust are powerful things. Perhaps you can fill your heart with them, instead."

Something in Neeks' expression cracked, and he ducked his head quickly, his bangs hiding his eyes from view. "I'll keep that in mind, Fu." He said softly, his hands shaking ever so slightly as he grabbed the cup and brought it to his lips.

Adrien, Marinette, and I exchanged a glance with each other.

We still have much to learn, don't we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Long time no see, right?
> 
> OT3 for Lukadrisper won! Which means our new favorite blue boy is about to become a serious player in the fic! (Unlike sweet Nathanael who I promise is still an incredibly close friend to Jasper even if I never mention him) For those of you who perhaps worry that I'm leaving no one for Marinette, have no fear! She eventually gets a lovely boy of her own (although whether or not that happens in the story or not is still up for debate) OT3 won 14 to 8, which I'd say is pretty dang close!
> 
> This chapter had been going left and right and every which way before I finally managed to figure out where I wanted to go and got it to flow well enough I could actually write. It's great to be back :)
> 
> This picture below is a picture of Wolven's new outfit! Isn't he cute? 
> 
>  
> 
> [](http://ibb.co/k5MSbc)  
>    
> 


	27. Winter Love As Warm As Fire

After Mom found out about Neeks and he showed the rest of the heroes his human form, days passed as normal. Adrien had to leave for a week due to a fashion shoot with his dad so he gave me my present earlier; another charm for the bracelet and a long kiss that once again took my breath away.

My birthday came and passed a lot more smoothly than the last one. I got to celebrate it with my family, and there wasn't any kind of attack (which was good, cause people would have gotten suspicious as to where their favorite cat was). Evangelique had given me another adorable stuffed animal, but this one didn't have a speaker hiding away in the paw. Noel and Astrid simply wished me a happy birthday, which was far more than I would have ever asked of them, even if they were dating mom.

Mom, of course, got me all sorts of books and a super soft, _adorable_ blanket of a black and a red kitten snuggling together in front of a crescent moon on a dark blue background. Long story short, I've been wearing it as a cape around the house ever since I got it. Neeks gave me a small obsidian carving of a wolf with wings on its back, howling at the moon. He had said it was from both him, and his friends. Who that was, I had not idea. I told him to thank them for me, nonetheless. 

Now Christmas was drawing near, and we were all faced with the question of what to get each other. I was trying to think of something that would knock Adrien off his feet, but couldn't figure out what. Not yet, at least. I had already gotten another charm for his bracelet, but I wanted to get him something else, as well. I just wish I knew what.

Alya hummed from where she was scrolling through her phone looking at websites for gifts, idly nibbling at her sandwich as she did. "Man, I didn't think shopping for all of you guys would be so difficult after two or three years!" She huffed, setting her phone down. "You guys already have everything you want or need; we all spoil each other too much."

I nodded in solemn agreement, setting my own phone down. We all made sure to get each other such good presents, it was hard coming up with something to beat the previous year's. It didn't help that sometimes, what we wanted we couldn't get with money, so there wasn't really anything we could do to help get whatever it was.

After a few minutes of silence to eat, both our phones went off at the same time. I frowned at Alya, wondering just what caused it, and when I checked my phone I was almost positive that my eyes were going to pop out of my head from how wide they went.

In our François Dupont Classroom chat, Chloe Bourgeois had sent a text.

_You are all cordially invited to the Winter Ball at Le Grand Paris_

_Formal Wear Only_

_December 23rd, begins at 7pm_

"Uh... she knows that Marinette and I are in this chat, right?" I wrote, showing Alya. Alya snickered, letting out a full blown laugh as Marinette typed out that very thing into the chat. Chloe was quick to respond with a sharp " _SHUT UP MARINETTE OR I'LL TAKE YOU OFF THE GUEST LIST!"_

"Guess that's a yes!" Alya chuckled, elbowing my side lightly. "You gonna go?"

"If Adrien wants to, sure." I wrote quickly. There wasn't any real reason _not_ to go, of course, but I also wasn't about to go to a party and leave Adrien all by his lonesome, or vice versa. If we wanted to stay home and watch movies or play video games, that's what we did.

Alya hummed, nodding. "I think I'll go. Get some good pics for the school blog and the like."

I nodded in agreement, smiling and jotting down another message. "Let's go as a group, then."

"Good idea!" Alya cheered, clapping. Before we could do anything else, though, the bell signaling the end of our lunch period rang, and we quickly scrambled to collect our things and head for our classes. "I'll let Nino and Marinette know, you tell Adrien!" She said quickly, smiling brightly before darting towards her class.

\----

After the text invitation and school had ended, Adrien and I were hanging out in my living room with Evangelique when Mayor Bourgeois gave out an invitation to Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Wolven for the very same party. Adrien and I exchanged glances, curious as to how we'd handle this, and Angel let out the most disappointed sigh a 7 year old could. 

"Aw... why do you guys get to go and see the heroes?!" She whined, flopping back onto the ground and looking up at us from her position there, a cute little pout on her face. "I wanna see them, too."

"You wouldn't like it, Angel." Adrien chuckled, smiling at her apologetically. "This isn't like Chloe's birthday parties; there's going to be a ton of grownups and boring talk. It really is more of a formal thing than party."

"But all of you get to go, which means it _has_ to be at least a little fun!" Angel argued, rolling over and glaring at us childishly. I shrugged, giving her my own apologetic smile.

"I really don't think it is. Not in the way you're thinking, Angel." I wrote, showing her a second later. Angel's pout deepened and she huffed, grabbing her stuffed animal and holding it close.

"Even MiMi and Mama got an invitation..."

"Are they going to go?" Adrien asked, and Angel shrugged weakly.

She sniffled, drawing shapes on the carpet. "I don't know if they're going to go... "

Adrien patted her head sympathetically, smiling at her. "Well I bet they'll chose to spend the night with you and your father. It'll be a lot more fun, I promise."

Angel looked at him from beneath her bangs, eyes wide and watery. "You think so?"

I nodded in agreement with what Adrien was saying, getting up a moment later and scribbling down that I was going to get Angel a couple cookies along with, "We're going out of courtesy to Chloe being nice, but mom and Mitzi have no such obligations. I know mom would much rather stay with you and Noel for the night." before heading into the kitchen and getting a handful of cookies for all of us to share.

Angel huffed as I sat back down, begrudgingly telling me thank you as she took a cookie and chomped down on it. I shared an amused glance with Adrien before tapping Angel's shoulder. She looked at me curiously and I grinned.

"I won't be able to use my notebook as much as I'd like at the ball; want to help me practice my LSF?"

Angel nodded quickly, already adjusting to face me fully. I chuckled, thinking of something to try signing. After coming up with something, I slowly started trying to sign it out while Adrien and Angel watched closely to see if I messed anything up.

For a while now, I've been learning French Sign Language because as much as I love using my notebook to talk, it can get a little tiring. So a couple months ago a group of us started taking classes to learn FSL, but the others caught on a lot more easily while I kept switching back to American Sign Language when I fully started moving into the motions. To say it was frustrating was an understatement.

" _Adrien is my boyfriend"_

"We got 'Adrien is my' and then you switched back to American, Jaspie." Angel said with a giggle, "But _we_ know what you were trying to say!"

Adrien and I both chuckled, probably matching shades of red.  "Do you know remember what the French version of boyfriend is?" Adrien asked, and I nodded, showing them the sign. I then proceeded to sign the full sentence a lot more slowly, catching myself as I started moving my right hand to my forehead and instead tapping my pinkies together while switching which palm was facing up.

After that, we spent a few hours going through some more things I'd have to say around people at the ball in hopes that some would have even an inkling of an idea of what I was saying instead of just waving my hands around like an idiot. I was going to have a small notepad and pencil with me, anyways, but always better to practice where I could.

\----

The day of the ball met the city with a slowly falling snow. None had yet to stick, but at the rate the temperature was dropping, snow would begin sticking within a few hours. Nathalie and Gorilla insisted on driving both Marinette and I back to our homes since we apparently lived the furthest from the school, and it gave the three of us time to plan the night's festivities.

When it finally did come time for the ball, snow was starting to cover everything but the streets and I wasn't so much excited as I was nervous. Since it was formal wear, I had to wear a suit and use concealer on my neck to hide the scars. Add that to being surrounded by who-knows how many people and dancing a lot over the night, I had some doubts whether the concealer would survive the night. Thankfully, the outfits were as amazing as ever. 

Adrien's father gave me a white suit with a red undershirt and cuffs with swirling crimson and gold designs creeping and fading up the sleeves that shimmered like freshly fallen snow. The pants had a similar design, the red shimmering ever so faintly in the light. Adrien's suit was a light baby blue with his own cuffs a set of shimmering silver snowflakes disappearing up the sleeves and a silver undershirt with a simple black tie, the pants mimicking the same style just like mine were. I had no idea what the others were dressed in yet as Mom, Adrien, and I were going to pick them up on the way to Chloe's and we wanted to surprise each other with our outfits.

Mom, of course, had to work some of her artist magic on us before leaving and around the corner of Adrien's left eye she painted some small snowflakes with sparkly white eyeliner and a poinsettia flower underneath my right eye in a similar sparkly red. 

Soon after, we were on the way to Marinette's to pick her and Alya up.

When we got to Marinette's, mom was quick to usher the girls back into Marinette's home from where they were waiting outside the bakery for us, a small makeup bag clutched in her hand. Adrien and I glanced at each other, laughing as we waited in the car for her to add her little touches. 

When the girls came back about five minutes later, Marinette had a blue and silver ornament on her left cheek while Alya had a small strand of mistletoe around the corner of her right eye. As they shed their jackets for the ride, I took the chance to look at their outfits a little better. 

Marinette's dress was a shimmery blue a shade lighter than Adrien's suit, the sleeves off her shoulders but trailing down to her wrists in a simple white lace. On the right side of the dress' skirt was a cluster of snowflakes. Alya on the other hand wasn't wearing a dress at all, but rather a rather fetching dark red tuxedo with gold edges along the tails and cuffs.

When we got to Nino's, mom did the same thing and pushed him back into the warmth of his home long enough to add something to his face as well. As he clambered into the car and settled into his seat it was easy enough to notice the sparkling ornamental gold star you'd see on the top of a Christmas tree adorning his left cheek just beneath his glasses. He was wearing a dark green suit with silver cuffs and edges, matching with Alya's outfit.

Arriving at Chloe's father's hotel, the five of us got out of the car with Nino, Adrien and I all helping Alya and Marinette get out of the car so they didn't slip on the forming ice in their heels (even if they were pretty short), and mom told us to have fun before heading on her way to Noel's.

I probably would have stood out there in the snow, staring at the hotel debating whether or not it was really worth it going into this party as Jasper, had Adrien and Marinette not grabbed my hands and started pulling me into the hotel.

"If I'm going to be dealing with Chloe as Marinette, you're dealing with her as Jasper." Marinette whispered as we walked into the threshold of the lobby. She and Alya went to deposit their coats with all the others the moment we were inside, the sound of some sort of classical music trickling out of the nearby ballroom. I looked out over the crowd, spotting the familiar faces of Juleka, Nathanael, and Rose throughout the haze of adults all mingling and probably talking of rich-people things.

"Ah, Miss Chloe's friends!"  I jumped slightly as the sound of a voice, looking over at the one who spoke. Adrien brightened at the sight of the butler, giving him a small nod in greeting. 

"Jean! Nice to see you again."

The butler smiled kindly, nodding in agreement. "Yes, it's nice to see all of you again as well, despite Miss Chloe's behavior."

"Did you need something, Jean?" Alya asked, walking back over with Marinette in tow. 

The butler nodded, motioning towards the back of the lobby. "Yes, Chloe wanted me to let all of you know that she has another ballroom set up in the east wing of the hotel for you and your classmates to flock too when ready; we realize that teens like yourself would much rather have your own party than deal with us stuffy adults."

"Oh, that's considerate!" Marinette gasped, momentarily looking impressed by the fact Chloe kept her classmate's usual partying style in mind. Alya grinned, a look on her face that meant she was probably figuring out a game plan for the evening. 

Nino chuckled, slinging an arm around Alya's shoulder. "We'll definitely keep that in mind, Jean. We'll head there in a bit." 

Jean nodded, gave us a short goodbye, and made his way towards where I has seen Juleka, Rose, and Nathanael a few minutes before. 

" _So what should we do here, exactly?_ " I asked, pausing occasionally as I signed to the others to make sure I didn't switch to American in the middle; the charms on my bracelet clinking together as I moved. 

"Well, I see some people my father wants me to talk to for a few minutes, and I'm sure Juleka and the others wouldn't mind a hello." Adrien explained, frowning a moment later. "Should we split up?"

"I _do_ want to try talking to some of the designers here," Marinette said slowly, smiling shyly. "I want to start thinking of possible internships and everything."

"Ooo, I should do the same!" Alya gasped, turning to Nino and looking up at him with wide eyes. "Come with me, Nino?"

Nino smiled, chuckling and nodding. "Of course I will, Alya!" He exclaimed, eyes flashing with a playful tease as he smirked, "As long as you're okay with me stealing some of the spotlight." 

I turned to Adrien, smiling shyly as I signed, " _Can I stick with you?_ " Adrien chuckled, taking my hand in his as he nodded.

"Of course you can, silly. I'm not going to leave you all by your lonesome, and I'm sure Vincent would love seeing you."

"Then we'll split up and meet back at the fun party in an hour or two?" Nino asked. When we all nodded in agreement, we all split up to do what we wanted. Marinette followed us for a few minutes, pulling us off to the side of the lobby where there were little to no people and the music nearly drowned out our voices. 

"We should probably think about meeting up on the roof in a half hour to transform and make our appearance." Marinette explained, "That way we won't be late, and our friends aren't suspicious." 

" _Are we just going to switch between parties after that?"_

"We'll certainly try; maybe we can switch off-- two of us go to the party with friends and the other distract from the disappearance at this one." 

"Sounds good to me!" Marinette agreed with a nod of her head, grinning, "Now you guys go do your business; someone's looking our way and I think he's a friend of your father's."

Adrien turned, eyes widening slightly. "Oh! Yeah, we should go say hi. Have fun with your designers, Marinette!" Adrien waved goodbye to Marinette, grabbing my hand and starting to lead me to the person he saw while I bid Marinette goodbye as well.

"Adrien! Long time no see, my boy! Looking rather fetching this evening, if I say so myself. Your father make those outfits?"

"Hello, Monsieur Chaput," Adrien greeted, coming to a stop beside the man. A chubby man with rosy cheeks, slicked back salt and pepper hair, and cheerful eyes, Mr. Agreste's friend reminded me of a young Santa. "Your eye never fails you, it seems! How have you been this evening?"

Mr. Chaput chuckled, grinning at the two of us. "Oh, I've been having as much fun as anyone can at these overly formal things. I came here because I told André I'd come, but I was in the middle of quite a lovely set of frocks that I would much rather be tending to." The old man leaned over, holding a up beside his mouth like he was telling us a secret. "Between us, I'd much rather wish I was a young 'un like you and your friend here so I could join in on that party Ms. Bourgeois has started on the other side of the hotel."

I grinned, holding back a chuckle at the man's words. He was such a difference from Mr. Agreste; it was a little surprising they were friends. 

"Now tell me, Adrien, who _is_ this friend of yours? I've never seen him around before!"

I exchanged a glance with Adrien, who nodded for me to go ahead and try signing to the man. I gulped, nervous about looking like a fool, but lifted my hands and slowly signed, " _My name is Jasper. Nice to meet you."_

As I signed, Mr. Chaput's eyes grew wide with surprise, and I felt a momentary spike of panic that he didn't know what I was doing before a smile stretched across his lips. "Well, now, I wasn't expecting this."

My eyes widened as he started sighing as he spoke, his movements a lot more assured than mine were. Adrien was grinning ear to ear, looking pleased with himself as I looked to him in surprise.

"Monsieur Chaput's niece is deaf, and gets quite a few deaf customers." He explained, smiling at me before turning to Mr. Chaput. "I'm glad we ran into you first! Jasper was worried he'd end up looking like he was flailing his hands at people the whole time."

I nodded in agreement, smiling at the older man and signing to him, " _You don't have to sign while talking; I can hear  you just fine. I cannot talk though."_ Mr. Chaput nodded, eyes turning a little confused near the end.

"I'm sorry, I didn't seem to catch that last part."

It took me a minute to realize that I had switched back to American, and at the realization I quickly repeated it in French with an embarrassed smile.

"Oh, I see! I'm sorry you have such an affliction," Mr. Chaput said sympathetically. I shrugged, unbothered, but thanked him for the sympathy anyway.

"Jasper moved here from America a couple years ago," Adrien said happily, "We were lucky enough to be placed in the same class."

Mr. Chaput gasped, grin returning full force. "Your father _finally_ listened and let you go to school, huh? That's wonderful to hear!"

Adrien chuckled, smiling. "It's had its ups and downs, but he's definitely getting better."

"Good, good." Mr. Chaput agreed, nodding sagely. "So what prompted your family to move so far if you don't mind me asking, hm?"

" _We wanted a change of scenery and Mom's paintings had a better chance of getting sold here."_

"She's a painter?" Mr. Chaput gasped again, eyes growing wide. " _Wait_ , is she the one who had that wonderful gallery that was almost attacked by an Akuma a few years back? With the beautiful pieces of our heroes as their respective animals?"

I nodded fervently, grinning as the man let out a short whoop.

"Goodness! Your mother is rather talented! I may have bought a third of those paintings over hers. Is she here?"

I shook my head, explaining that she had decided to spend the night with her significant others. At that, Mr. Chaput deflated slightly, but it didn't stop him from continuing conversation just as energetically for a little while longer before he was called away elsewhere and Adrien spotted another of his dad's friend he had to talk to. 

For the most part, I just introduced myself to the people Adrien had to talk to and stood next to him quietly as a part of the conversation without actually having to speak. Which was probably good, considering I kept being stared at like I was growing a second head. It was to be expected, of course, but it was still pretty frustrating in that regard. I didn't mind just standing and watching Adrien talk with the people he's known since he was little; although some were cut a lot shorter than others. Even Adrien had people he didn't like, after all (and, it seemed, the feeling was mutual.)

It finally came time to the time to sneak off to the roof, so we excused ourselves from the crowd and made our way to the elevator.

Somehow, we were the only ones in the elevator, and the fresher, less stuffy air was definitely a welcome change. The frostbitten, completely fresh air of the roof was even more welcome. Snow was definitely starting to accumulate now; lighting up the city in a beautiful blue. No one else was on the roof yet, probably finding the snowy weather unfavorable to the warmth of the building. 

Neeks and Plagg flew out of their hiding places, my kwami nearly vibrating with excitement. "I can dress you up how I like, right?" He asked for what much have been the 100th time. "Right?"

I chuckled, nodding and fishing a piece of candy from the pocket of my suit's jacket. 

Neeks squealed, taking the candy and flying around the three of us excitedly. "Plagg!!! Plagg do you hear that!? I can dress him up in our garb again!"

"Are you sure you should have given him the candy when he's already so hyper?" Plagg asked, an amused grin on his face as Neeks at the candy in a few simple bites. 

"You have to make Adrien dressy too, Plagg!" Neeks demanded as he came to a screeching halt in front of Plagg. "Give him a cute suit and tie instead of his hero outfit!"

The elevator opened, Neeks and Plagg ducking behind us until Marinette stepped out and opened her purse to let Tikki come flying out. "Tikki you too!" Neeks said quickly as he came out of his hiding spot. "Make Marinette have a pretty dress!" He gasped, grabbing the ladybug kwami and shaking her by the shoulders until she shoved him away. "Or a pretty suit! TIKKI PLEASE DO THIS FOR ME!"

Adrien chuckled, his breath fogging in the air. "Why are you so excited for this, Neeks?"

"Neeks hasn't really... been to many formal or ceremonial events in a while... Neeks are your sure your garb is suitable for this?" 

Neeks flew to Plagg so quickly they spun out into a the nearby snowbank forming on the railing, shouting dramatically, " _DON'T TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME_ , _I BEG OF YOU!"_

Tikki groaned in frustration, turning to Marinette while Plagg and Neeks started talking in hushed tones in their little cave of snow. "Well, I'll humor him just this once. Now lets get you into something warmer than those lace sleeves."

Marinette nodded, grinning at us as she said her usual "Tikki, Spots On!" and a bright pink flash appeared for just a moment. In Marinette's place stood Ladybug, dressed in a dashing red and black tuxedo with the occasional signature ladybug pattern along the sleeve cuffs or as a belt around her waist. Thankfully her mask covered the ornament mom had drawn on her cheek. Ladybug sighed, relaxing. "Ah, much warmer already. Boys, hurry and change!"

Adrien chuckled, nodding. "Of course, milday. Plagg! Neeks! Hurry and get over here or we're going to be late!"

Neeks let out a shout, flying out of the snow cave he and Plagg had been talking in before looking at me excitedly. "Shall we?"

I nodded, and Neeks activated our transformation while Plagg flew to wait beside Adrien. 

Ladybug let out a stunned gasp as the light of my transformation faded, but before I could get a look at whatever she gasped over, something plopped down onto my head and caused me to yelp from surprise, the thing momentarily obscuring my vision except for eyeholes as the rest of it fell down my back and around my shoulders. 

"What the...?"

"Whoa! Now that's what I call a fang-tastic outfit." Adrien said excitedly, while I lifted whatever was blocking my vision. The silky softness of fur and leather rubbed against my fingers and I quickly realized just what was on my head even as I lifted it from it's place to get a better look.

Plagg let out an uncertain grunt, placing a paw to his chin as he flew around me. "I don't know, Neeks. Looks a lot like Keannekeuk's  Mahweea outfit."

"Is that one of the previous Wolven's?" I asked, looking down at the pelt in my hands as I did. A snow white wolf pelt was staring back at me, Neeks' familiar presence rolling off it in waves. Only, something felt... different. Like it was both Neeks and not him at the same time.

Speaking of my kwami, he took the chance to take control of my mouth, letting out a huff. "Please, Plagg, he looks _amazing_. No one here's even going to know who Keannekeuk was.... sadly." Neeks said, sighing wistfully at the end. 

"If you're sure, Neeks." Plagg said cautiously, "I just don't know if giving him a shaman's headdress is a good idea."

Neeks sighed, one of my ears flicking irritably."Plagg, for the thousandth time they are not _shamans_ at the very least call them medicine men or even healers, though those don't even _begin_ to properly explain what Keannekeuk was."

Plagg sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if you're sure. Adrien, ready to transform?"

"Oh, right. Plagg, claws out!"

While Adrien transformed, I took notice of the rest of the outfit Neeks had dressed me in, my eyes widening at the sight. I was dressed in traditional Native American garb, although I had no idea what kind or from what tribe. I wiggled my toes in the beaded moccasins, gaping slightly from the feeling of warm fur. 

"Neeks really went all out, Wolven." Ladybug said with a small chuckle before opening her yoyo and handing it to me. "You should see your face."

"What'd he do?" I asked, taking the yoyo and looking into the mirror she offered. My eyes widened as I took in the brightly colored yellow and red paint along my face, my mask looking like it was painted on instead of being a physical mask. 

" _If you put on the headdress again the outfit will be perfect!"_ Neeks cheered in my head, and while I felt _disastrously_ overdressed, hearing just how happy he was to be able to show off a previous chosen's clothing made it hard to ask him to tone it down even a little.

I handed the mirror back to Ladybug with a small sigh, putting the pelt back on as carefully as I could. "I think you might be a little too fierce for this crowd, Wolfie." Chat Noir chuckled, wrapping an arm around my waist. He was dressed in a simple black tuxedo similar to Alya's, lined with the same green of his eyes. He studied the pelt curiously, obviously hesitant to touch it. "Is it real?"

"I think so? The rest is traditional; makes sense the pelts would be, too." I explained, smiling weakly. "I feel like this might be hard to explain to the mayor."

"Just say it's traditional for you!" Ladybug said, walking past us and heading for the edge oft he roof. "People already know that Ladybug is over a thousand years old; won't be hard to believe the same of Wolven."

"True." I sighed, chuckling at the small huff Neeks in return. 

 _"I think it looks much better than those silly suits all those people were wearing in the party."_ He huffed, " _Much more befitting of my chosen."_

_Feeling a little haughty tonight, aren't we?_

Still, while we leapt down from the roof to the entrance of the party and were quickly swept up by Chloe's father and other high-end people, I thought about why Neeks was so insistent over dressing me up in these kind of clothes every chance he got and ran through what I knew of him.

_He has a human form and a form he won't tell me about, is incredibly old, and very clearly has Native origins. His enemy is Anamaqkiu and she creates chindays. He's apparently incredibly different from the Chinese Kwamis, afraid of water..._

"Hey, Wolven," The familiar voice of Chat Noir pulled me out of my thoughts as his hand wrapped around my wrist, leading me towards the ballroom. "Snap out of autopilot for a few minutes! I'm tired of talking; we should dance!"

At the mention of dancing, I perked up almost immediately, which made Chat laugh softly as he pulled me onto a clear spot on the dance floor right as the old song ended and a new song began. "Shall you lead, or will I?" I asked with a grin, which was easily returned.

"I lead this time! I'm almost positive you'll be impressed by these moves, my little steppin' wolf." Chat explained, clasping our hands together in their proper positions and pulling me close to him by the waist. 

"Oh we're going towards species puns now? I'm sad to say that one wasn't all too great, kitty." I chuckled, moving in time with him. I _was_ pretty impressed with his dancing though; Chat moved with grace he didn't even try to have in our practice sessions. 

He twirled me around, careful of the headdress and the ears. I giggled without even meaning to as he pulled me back in, quickly switching who leads as the tempo started picking up. "My turn!" 

Chat gasped as I took the lead, emerald eyes widening for just a moment before he was grinning a smile that was all teeth and following my steps easily. "You are a  ferocious little wolf aren't you?"

"Only as the dance goes on," I teased, pressing close to him. "What? Did you think I'd be gentle with the dance?"

Chat Noir laughed, shaking his head and spinning us around. "'Course not-- it's not your style!"

\----

The half hour we had designated for the arrival of the heroes was quickly coming to a close, so the three of us slipped away to meet up with Nino and Alya and head to the party Chloe had set up.

The transformations canceled easily enough, leaving us in our civilian formal wear as we slipped away and headed back to the meeting place.

Alya came bounding over with Nino at her side, grinning brightly. "Okay, I know I'm going to have fun at the party Chloe is throwing but _oh my god  did you see Chat Noir and Wolven?!_ " She squealed, "I got _so_ much footage of them dancing!"

Adrien chuckled, "I'm glad you had fun! Ready to go meet up with the rest of our friends now?"

The rest of us nodded, heading down to the east wing and towards the sound of rock music that was slowly starting to grow louder as we got closer to the room.

As it got louder a voice joined in on the music, smooth and relaxing even as it drifted across powerful chords and making the others freeze. They exchanged awed and excited looks, making me wonder if they knew who it was that was singing.

"Is that--?" Marinette began, Nino nodding quickly in response.

"Luka!" They all shouted, Adrien grabbing my hand and pulling me along as they all started running for the room.  I stumbled a little from surprise, curiosity growing in my chest . Who was Luka?

Entering the ballroom, all their classmates and even teens Jasper didn't know were dancing and chatting, while on a small stage there was a band  playing, the singer apparently called Luka a boy with slightly ashen skin and pretty, messy blue and black hair.

"Juleka!" Marinette called, waving over the purple and black haired girl. At the sound of her name, Juleka and Rose quickly made their way over, grins on their faces. 

"Hey guys!" Rose said cheerfully, "You all look amazing!"

" _Thanks,"_   I signed, " _You guys do, too."_

Their eyes brightened at that, Rose cooing and waving him off. "Awww you're too kind!"

"When did Luka come back from America?" Marinette asked curiously, after pleasantries were out of the way. 

"A couple weeks ago!" Juleka explained excitedly, "He wanted to surprise all of you with this ball; Chloe had asked him to play a couple months ago apparently."

" _Chloe_ wanted _Luka_ to play?" Nino asked, grinning slyly, "Never thought I'd seen the day."

Rose laughed, the twinkle in everything she does shining through as she nodded. "Right? Guess even Chloe can appreciate good music that's not by a famous person!"

"Chloe's getting better at not flaunting money or using her status to get someone like Jagged Stone to play," Adrien admitted with a small smile, eyes straying over the crowd and probably looking for the blonde haired girl; it paused on the singer for a while, his eyes softening a little, " and it's definitely nice to see."

Juleka nodded, "Luka's been doing amazing things with his work! He mostly does solo gigs but his friends don't mind helping out with sets for dances and the like. Honestly I'm amazed Chloe even knew he did this kind of thing."

Neeks brushed against my neck, reminding me that one of us should probably head back to the adult party soon before the guests start wondering where they went. I gave a subtle tug on Adrien's sleeve as a reminder to him as well. 

Thankfully, instead of us having to leave the conversation ourselves, Rose and Juleka were  called over elsewhere.

After that, we used the chance to split up and talk to other people or dance, which Alya was eager to get Nino to do. Marinette, Adrien and I went to one corner, trying to come up with an order for us to switch off with . "I'll go back first," Marinette explained, giving an uncertain glance towards the stage where Luka was. There was a small bit of apprehension in her eyes behind the excitement, which made me wonder just what she was nervous about. "After maybe ten minutes, one of you should join me. After that, we spend 10 minutes together before I head back here, the one left spends ten minutes alone, and then the process repeats with the other. Or is that too complicated?"

" _We can switch off part of the duo here every ten minutes. If needed, the one in the adult party can message the ones here to get one of us. It'll be difficult, but I think we can manage for an hour or two."_

Adrien and Marinette exchanged unsure glances before nodding, and Marinette said hi to a few other people as she slipped back out of the ballroom. 

Adrien sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Think we can do this?"

At his question I shrugged; not sure if we could. We had to hope we did, though, and only one thing was certain-- tomorrow morning the three of us were going to be sleeping in until the afternoon.

" _Let's dance?_ " I signed, hearing the song turn to a slow one. " _I can handle a slow one or two like this_."

"Chloe's going to notice you dancing with me-- it may as well be us outing ourselves to our classmates, you know." Adrien said carefully, wanting to make sure I really was okay with dancing with him. I rolled my eyes, smiling gently at him and taking his hand in my own.

"I don't really care what they say; I think it's time, don't you?" I mouthed. Adrien's smile in return was so soft it made my heart melt in my chest and he nodded, lifting my hand and kissing my knuckles.

"That would be wonderful." He agreed, voice just as gentle as he led me to the dancefloor, the charms on our bracelets clinking together lightly.

\----

What was probably three hours later, Marinette,  Adrien,  and I were thoroughly _exhausted_. People had started heading home or to their rooms in the hotel a while ago, and the parties were finally starting to end. When the crowd of people i n the party Chloe's dad was hosting started thinning, we excused ourselves from that party completely with the excuse we needed to make sure we were all well rested to protect the city any chance we got, which was true enough.

Really, the only reason we had yet to leave as civilians was because Adrien, Marinette, Alya, and Nino wanted to introduce me to Luka. 

We had taken to sitting at one of the tables off to the side, chatting amongst ourselves, as our classmates slowly started filtering out themselves until the only ones left were friends of Luka and their dates. Luka and his friends started packing up soon after the last of people clearly not waiting left, sating something to his friends and hoping down from the stage with ease.

"Let's wait a few minutes before heading over," Adrien said with a small hum, "Let the others talk to him first and give him a chance to breathe."

"Sounds like a good idea," Nino nodded as the rest of us nodded. I turned back to watching Luka, trying to take in as much as I could of the male. He looked around our age; was he in college in America?

A couple minutes later, Luka was walking over to the table with a large, slightly shy smile on his face. "Hey guys! Long time no see." 

Wow, and I thought his _singing_ was gentle; it had nothing on the soothing and gentle tone of his voice, only slightly gravely and hoarse now from all the singing he had been doing.

I gave him a small wave, suddenly feeling shy as the others said hello in return. Luka's blue eyes met mine and an easy smile crossed his face. "Hello; who are you?"

I looked away, gnawing on my lip nervously. I felt immensely out of my depth again, like I had the day I met Adrien and the others. Thankfully, I didn't have to struggle through it myself this time.

"This is Jasper," Adrien explained, placing a hand comfortingly on my arm. "He transferred to our school about a month after you left for America."

I flipped to a clean page in my notebook, jotting down a greeting and the usual "Sorry, I can't talk" along with it before showing it to Luka. The blue-haired boy frowned thoughtfully, eyes watching me carefully like he was putting together a picture of my soul. I sunk down in my seat slightly, smiling shyly at the older boy. If my voice wasn't as destroyed as it was, I would have tried to actually talk to him, but knowing the gross gravely sound that would have come out instead of words I quickly had to dismiss the nervousness-induced idea.

"It's nice to meet you, Jasper." Luka said kindly, after a moment, "You and Adrien are very cute."

The group laughed as Adrien and I both turned bright red and I hid my face in my hands as Adrien squeaked out a thank you, feeling even more embarrassed than I probably should; did my heart do a small leap when he called us cute? I honestly can't tell, my heart's been racing this whole time.

"How long are you in town, Luka?" Alya asked, pulling the attention away from Adrien and I. Luka shrugged, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"A while, I think. Probably until the next school year. I was getting a bit homesick; you'd think after living on a boat with a mom who talks like a pirate for 19 years it'd be a relief to get away , but after a couple years without really being able to visit, you do start to miss it."

That helped me sober up from the embarrassment, nodding solemnly. I understood what he meant perfectly; even I still got a little homesick over America every now and then. I especially missed my best friend there, even though we hadn't seen each other for twice as long as it's been since I moved.

"Yeah, I bet." Marinette agreed, smiling kindly at Luka, "Well it'll be nice getting to hang out with you again."

"Definitely!" Luka and the others agreed at the same time, prompting the entire group laugh while I just let out a small chuckle.

"Luka!" One of his friends called in English, "We gotta go; snow's coming down pretty quickly and the roads won't stay clear for long!"

"Be right there!" Luka called back, looking back at us and smiling apologetically. "I'll see you all later. It was nice seeing you again, and nice meeting you, Jasper." He gave the group a nod, turning and pausing as he stepped towards his friends. He looked over his shoulder, a hopeful look on his face as he looked at Adrien. "Think we could play together again soon?"

"Of course!" Adrien grinned, nodding. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Luka smiled brightly, giving him another quick nod before rushing over to help his friends move their instruments.

The moment Luka had gotten to his friends, Marinette let out a relieved sigh and placed a hand on her chest, looking relieved. I gave her a curious look while Alya laughed and playfully punched her arm.

"See? Told you it wouldn't be bad seeing him again!" She teased, grinning.

"Yeah.." Marinette chuckled, smiling slightly. "You were right, as always."

Noticing my curiosity, Alya gladly clarified, "Marinette and Luka tried dating like a couple months before you moved here; ended on good terms, realized they weren't really meant for each other."

I looked at her, hopefully properly conveying the emotion I was feeling in place of the verbal "Oh." I couldn't give them.

Marinette blushed lightly, clearing her throat and standing up. "Well, it's fine. He's still a sweet guy and friend and everything; I was just worried it'd be awkward."

Ayla laughed heartily as the rest of us stood up as well, "Marinette _every_ encounter with him before you were dating was awkward."

We all walked out to the front where Adrien's bodyguard and limo was waiting to take us all home, chatting about the party and all the fun that we had.

Tonight was a good night, I decided; feeling the steady breaths coming from a sleeping Neeks and the warmth of Adrien's hand clasped in mine. 

If only every night after could be as lighthearted as this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I know I haven't been the most reliable publisher around but I was just let go from my job and could really use a new source of income while trying to find a job. Which brings me to the question...
> 
> would any of you want to support me monthly (you can also do one-offs) on either Ko-fi gold, as I've heard through the grapevine that Patreon has had some struggles with people and payments. (but I might do patreon for a bit if it seems better than Ko-fi) via my fics and maybe some commissions?
> 
> I'd still post them to wattpad if they're already on here as well as on ao3 and would have all sorts of sneak peeks as rewards for your support! For example I was thinking (if Ko-fi gold is set up like patreon):
> 
> Tier 1: First Looks at OCs and the random pics I create/ or have already commissioned others prior to being let go of them, story and chapter ideas  
> Tier 2: Tier 1 and paragraph samples of next chapters  
> Tier 3: Tiers 1&2 and full look at 2 or three pages in the next chapter, polls for ideas or what fic to work on next  
> Tier 4: Tiers 1,2,3 and monthly commission of a 300 word drabble 
> 
> ...So, what do you think? Should I do it?  
> Also I already have a pre-existing ko-fi f you wanna [Support Me on Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/B0B3BYM1) please, feel free!

**Author's Note:**

> Also, guys, I was thinking that some chapters can have pictures to go with them, and while I already have some drawn and ready for chapters, I don't want to draw all of them by myself (I can't do them justice more than half the time, and it makes me feel bad.) so if you'd like to see something specific (PLEASE NO SEXY TIMES I'M NOT WRITING SEXY TIMES THIS BOOK SHALL STAY INNOCENT) please either tell me a scenario you'd like to see, or send me fanart either through a link in my message box or in the comments, or on twitter @BeneathTreeMoMo (fanart of previous chapters would be lovely, too) I will dedicate that chapter to you, then :3


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